


Silver Restoration

by sirbartonslady



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: F/M, cast of freaking thousands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-21
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-11-05 17:59:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 66,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/409353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirbartonslady/pseuds/sirbartonslady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The War of the Stones is over. Unable to forget or deny her growing feelings for Seth, Princess Eirika seeks advice and comfort from her brother. Ephraim plots to ease his sister's heartache by pulling her and the General together, however he can do so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based primarily on the Support conversations and the various choices and results of said choices from my own gameplay of the game. I stubbornly reset the game any time someone died so that I made it through the game with everyone still alive. If you've played the game, you'll probably be able to figure out, based on how I've written this, what characters were promoted to, and which supports reached the top level.
> 
> Disclaimer: It goes without saying, but I will state it nonetheless: I own nothing of this franchise, it belongs to Nintendo/Intelligent Systems. I took some license with the characters' backgrounds, building off details released in the Support conversations and such. For characters who have little to no past (such as Orson) revealed, and for those whose pasts are barely revealed, as well as other details such as age, I got a little inventive.
> 
> Credits: Special thanks to youtube user brisulph for introducing me to this game.

If there was one good thing that Princess Eirika of Renais could say came from the horrible day her family's castle was overthrown and her father killed, it was that the experience had led her to some very unique and dear friendships. Of course, she would have preferred to have discovered those friendships without having to lose her home and having her father be killed. There was one other thing that could be considered good, in a manner of speaking, but she wasn't sure she wanted to admit it right now.

Minions of the Grado Empire and its controlling force, Fomortiis, had ravaged all of Magvel, and the healing could only just now begin. They were a bit of a rag-tag band of warriors, some three-dozen in number, but they had saved all of the countries by defeating Fomortiis's shell of a body after sealing his soul. And now, in a day or two, their numbers would begin to dwindle fast, as they reached various parting points. They were about a day or two out from the Rausten court, and from there they would head south and then west through Jehanna to the borders of Renais, Grado and Frelia.

Surviving all that had been thrown at them had been a challenge, to say the least, but now that it was over... hopefully they could rebuild the five nations ravaged by Grado's folly. Between herself and her brother Ephraim, she hoped to rebuild Renais to its former glory and govern it with something resembling the wisdom and grace of her late father. Still...

_Please forgive my rudeness... Princess, I am merely your subject..._

The princess rubbed her eyes wearily, unable to drown out the memory that seemed determined to torture her. She had been able to put the conversation out of her mind for months now, because of their flight into the unknown and their fight against the overwhelming forces of darkness flowing from the Demon King's lair. But now... now that the danger was past, and the future was finally in front of them, the conversation that had weighed so heavily on her heart at one time had come back to haunt her.

It was pretty clear to her now that she couldn't regard Seth, the Silver Knight and the General of the Knights of Renais, as merely her subject. Too much had happened to draw the two of them together, and too much affection had taken root in her heart. She owed more than just her life to him.

"Eirika."

She blinked a moment, suddenly disoriented.

"Eirika, what's the matter with you? You've been in a fog for days now. What's going on?"

Her twin brother, Ephraim, was standing in front of her, hands on his hips. His face was wreathed with concern and his eyes were gentle, but it was clear that he was annoyed and was in no mood to banter words.

"I'm sorry, Brother," she said softly, turning away.

He caught her arm. "Don't you 'sorry, Brother' me -- tell me what's wrong. You can't fool me. We've got a long, difficult road ahead of us, and I am going to need your support if I'm going to be a good king for our people."

She gave him a petulant look; "It's nothing, really. I'm just so emotionally drained..."

His eyes narrowed slightly, losing some of their gentle understanding; "Eirika, you're lying to me. It's obvious. Something is bothering you. Is this about what happened to Lyon? I thought you had come to terms with it."

She shook her head. There was no getting out of this and if she didn't tell him soon, he'd start jumping to even wilder conclusions; "Brother, I don't want to talk about this right here. Can we discuss this a little later, in private? I'll tell you what's bothering me, but I need a chance to figure out how to say it, and I want it to be private."

He looked a little put out, but agreed; "All right. My tent, after we've eaten. I expect you to be honest with me, Eirika. Something has been bothering you for a while, and I need to know what it is if I'm going to be able to help you."

Eirika nodded tiredly in agreement. If only he _could_ help. But it would probably be good for her to at least come out and say what she'd been trying to avoid saying. Not that it would help anything, but at least maybe then things would be a little easier to endure. And there was a chance that Ephraim could at the very least comfort her, and perhaps even advise her.

"I'm going to go check on the convoy," Ephraim said. "Why don't you go make sure our horses are tended to." It was about as close to a command without actually _being_ a command. It had been worded as a suggestion, but there was no mistaking the underlying command. She didn't feel like arguing with him, and turned to head to where her rouncey was tethered beside Ephraim's.

As she moved through the campsite, she passed by the makeshift paddock with the three destriers belonging to the Great Knights. Kyle was grooming his, while Forde lounged nearby. Duessel's big black charger was grazing at the far end of the small enclosure, having already been groomed and turned out for the night.

Forde's destrier nickered a greeting to Eirika as she passed and she paused to pat the horse on his broad forehead.

"Good evening, Princess Eirika," Kyle said, giving her a quick salute. Forde rolled his head around and cracked one eye open to ascertain that Eirika actually was there (because he couldn't put it past Kyle to say something like that just to make him move) and then got to his feet and saluted smartly.

"Good evening, both of you," she said with a smile. The two knights were as different as sun and moon, and yet they worked together in amazing concert. They were both knights to be proud of, and she knew that Ephraim was eager to put them to work in rebuilding the Renais military.

Patting the horse one more time, she stepped away. "Carry on. I'm just on my way to make sure my horse is tended to."

Just as she was turning away, she heard Duessel's charger, Obrigado, stomp over. She looked up at the big black stallion in bewilderment, but he was ignoring her, his neck stretched out. He was an aggressive horse, difficult to be around, but there were two people that he would go out of his way to be petted by: his master, Duessel; and Forde's younger brother Franz, who had an uncanny connection with horses.

Sure enough, out of the shadows emerged Franz, leading a pair of coursers -- his own roan gelding, and General Seth's dun stallion Hyperion -- and following immediately after him was the tiny Grado soldier-recruit-turned-powerhouse-paladin, Amelia, leading her own courser. All three horses had clearly been groomed and bathed already and were being turned out for the night in the enclosure.

"Someone move that beast so we can get these horses in there," the calm, sure voice of General Seth, the Silver Knight of Renais, emerged from the surrounding shadows, as he appeared in a pool of dusk light, carrying some of the horses' tack. He paused beside Eirika and set the tack down, making shooing motions at Obrigado. "Come on, you giant pest, back up. Get. Go on, you brute." Obrigado was not a cooperative animal, but Seth had a poise and authority about him that even difficult horses could recognize. Flattening his large ears and baring his teeth in aggression, the big black stallion backed up so that Amelia could bring her horse into the enclosure, and then Franz brought the other two in.

For just a moment, Eirika allowed herself to be captivated by her infatuation. The way the fading daylight glanced off Seth's brilliant red hair, and the radiating sense of calm serenity and competence that seemed to always cloak him, combined with his proud posture and gentle countenance... She mentally kicked herself and looked away from the paladin. This wasn't helping her at all, indulging in these little moments of weakness. She needed to steel her heart against the reality that her affections were likely not reciprocated.

"Are you all right, Princess?" he inquired, noting as she turned away abruptly.

"I... just need to check on my horse, that's all. I let myself get sidetracked."

"I had one of the convoy grooms take care of both horses -- yours and Prince Ephraim's."

She managed to swallow a groan; leave it to Seth to take care of everything, even when she herself was stupidly distracted. Next to his steady efficiency, she felt ridiculously inadequate at times. She still didn't quite understand him, in all honesty. Contrary to stereotypical portrayal, successful knights in Renais didn't need to be selflessly subservient; Forde was a perfect example of an excellent knight who took nothing very seriously. Even Kyle could snark back at Ephraim occasionally, though he did so rarely and generally only out of extreme exasperation. Seth, on the other hand, was highly formal and deferential to both Ephraim and Eirika at pretty much all times. With the war over with, right now the one thing Eirika really wanted more than anything else was for Seth to finally let down his guard, to show her the gentler, more human side she knew he possessed. She wanted to get to know the _man_ , not the knight, paladin, soldier, horseman, whatever. She wanted to erase that invisible social status line that separated them.

With another shake of the head to clear her mind as tears threatened to form in her eyes, she started in the direction of her and her brother's horses. Even if they had already been tended to and were settled for the night, she needed an excuse to put some distance between her and Seth. She didn't quite manage to get out of earshot before Franz made a comment to Seth about how "Princess Eirika looked kind of mad at you, General. What'd you do?"

She made haste to get away from the knights, wanting some privacy right now. With her emotions in a sudden tailspin, she needed a chance to collect herself together and regain her composure. By the time she arrived at where the two roan rounceys were tethered, she had managed to calm her fractured nerves and felt at least a little bit better.

The two horses were sturdy, lean-muscled geldings, both hand-picked by Seth himself for the royal twins. Both horses had been trained to carry riders in combat, but unlike the destriers and coursers, were not trained to actually fight. They were good horses who would have no trouble adapting to life on a farm or in a stable, now that the war was over. Eirika's horse was a light gray roan named Thrush for his bird-like agility, while Ephraim's mount was a darker, steel-gray roan gelding named Storm for his lightning-quick reflexes. The two horses had personalities that matched their riders, too. Thrush was steady and friendly, while Storm was strong-willed and brave, though he had a tendency to be a bit aloof at times.

Thrush nickered a greeting as she approached. Storm was busily chowing down on some grain poured for him and ignored her when she patted him. The calmness of the two horses was soothing and she was able to relax a bit, petting and talking to Thrush. She lost track of time, letting her mind stay as empty as possible until the meal bell was rung, indicating that the cooking crew from the convoy had finished getting the food ready.

After collecting her food, she found a place to sit around the campfire that someone had gotten going. She found herself near Lute and Artur, who were apparently having a serious discussion.

"Are you sure about this, Artur? Won't the temple get angry with you?"

"I don't think so. My duties won't have changed much, for all that we shouldn't have to deal with those monsters and creatures anymore. If anything, they'll be more annoyed at my promotion than that I wish to get married. And if that temple is stingy and won't allow it, then I'll find another way to continue my work."

She snickered. "Honestly. I really don't get how you aren't bored with all that cleric work. You're not learning anything new, just the same old thing over and over again."

"It's a calling." Artur had nearly-infinite patience where Lute was concerned, which Eirika privately found admirable. Lute could be so pretentious sometimes that she was difficult to even be around. Artur just took it all in stride. In recent months, the dynamic between the two of them had seemed to change into a very interesting partnership. Lute seemed to be softening up, a little less rigid and conceited around others. "If you ask Natasha, she'll tell you the same thing: it's a calling, something that we can do for the good of all humanity."

"Mmm. Well, I certainly won't be one to tell you to give up your calling; just don't expect me to drop what I'm doing and join your temple. I'm interested in learning more of your Light magic, but not enough to give up my Anima magic."

Artur just laughed; "There's nothing to worry about, Lute. You'd probably just intimidate everyone in the temple anyway."

"Good. Now, I was recalling a book I read about marriage, and how the husband and wife have certain roles around the house... you know, I know nothing about how to do most of that stuff, and the book didn't exactly give specifics. I've never cooked in my life, and recipes baffle me because they... they're just a list of ingredients with some vague instructions. I'd like to think I could figure it out easily, but..."

"No need to worry, my dear. You just do what you do best, and I'll do what I do best, and everything will work out. I'm confident."

"Confident, hmm?"

"You give me confidence, Lute."

Eirika tuned the rest of their conversation out, deciding that she wasn't comfortable listening in on an obviously private conversation. As she was finishing up her meal, she noticed Ephraim signaling to her. She swallowed a sigh and stood up to go face up to her problems.

Ephraim's tent was stationed right next to hers, but was larger because he usually used it when he and Seth had planned out routes and strategies during this war. As she arrived in front of it, he silently ushered her in with a gesture. She followed without a word.

"Now, please, Eirika, tell me what's bothering you. I'm worried about you." He closed the flap of the tent as a sign to everyone outside that this was a private discussion. He then gestured for her to sit down in one of the chairs by the table he used for tactics planning. She did so, and he took a seat in an adjacent chair.

"This isn't easy for me to admit, Ephraim," she said hesitantly after a long silence. "I've been... well, I guess you could say I've been actively in denial for a while now..."

He was silent, regarding her with a concerned gaze.

"I..." She swallowed with some difficulty, a lump having formed in her throat, "I have tried to avoid this and deny it, but... it seems that I've fallen in love with someone. I... I can't get him out of my thoughts, now that this horrible war is finally over."

Ephraim was silent a little longer before speaking, and his voice was very gentle; "So that explains it. I suspected it was something like that. Or, at least, I wanted to believe it was something like that, and not something much more sinister."

She blinked, uncomprehending; "Like what?"

"Considering what we just battled and what it did to Lyon?" He looked uncomfortable. "I didn't want to completely dismiss the possibility that the Demon King had fooled us and had somehow infected you. You were pretty badly shaken by everything, and I... well, to be honest, I was afraid you were going to be vulnerable to him. Even if L'Arachel and Innes thought I was being stupidly cynical, I couldn't shake that fear."

"Well, I guess I can understand your fear," she said, thinking it over, "but the reason Lyon was, er, infected, was because he experimented with Grado's Sacred Stone."

"I know that, Eirika, but I still wasn't sure why you seemed so down and distracted. But, I guess being lovesick will do some pretty weird things to you, huh?" He attempted to smile, but she couldn't find the energy to return it.

"I don't particularly like this, you know," she said softly. "It's not the least bit fun."

He reached over and covered her hand with his own; "Can you at least tell me who it is? Or does it bother you that much? Surely you're not ashamed of this?"

She sighed; "Well, I guess there's no harm. I'm not ashamed at all, I just... I don't see how this could work out."

There was a silence.

"Well?" He prodded gently. "Are you going to tell me?"

She closed her eyes; "It's... it's Seth."

"I see." She noted that he didn't sound the least bit surprised. "Have you spoken with him about this at all? Do you know what his feelings on the matter are?"

She felt a little deflated. "I want to believe that he feels the same about me. He seemed to say as much, in a roundabout way. But... he told me that I should treat him as just another subject, as just a knight in my service. I've tried, Brother. I really have. He's right. My station is far above his, and I shouldn't be favoring one of my knights, never mind if he's the highest ranking one, the General of the Knights of Renais..." She could feel her composure crumbling. "But it's just so hard. I don't know where these feelings came from, but... the more I try to reason them away, the more they haunt me. He is... far more dear to me than he should be. He's my subordinate, and I'm his queen."

Ephraim sat back a bit, pondering this. "Actually, Eirika, you're not a queen at all. Well, technically, I'm not a king yet either, but strictly speaking, if one of us is going to succeed Father, it's supposed to be me. I'm the one he groomed to succeed him, even if I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what he was trying to teach me. I don't think Father ever intended for you to actually _rule_ Renais; more, he wanted you to be my most trusted advisor, and a good regent when I'm away from the throne. But as long as I'm around, you're not necessarily a queen."

"That's not helping, Ephraim!" She felt a flash of anger heat up her insides. "So now you're telling me that you're above me?"

"Not at all. I'm only saying that _one_ of us is supposed to take the throne and be the stand-offish monarch, not both. It doesn't have to be you. It really _shouldn't_ be you. This isn't a case of 'an heir and a spare' -- it's rather deliberate. King Hayden is doing the same thing with Innes and Tana -- he's grooming Innes to be his successor, and Tana to be Innes's adviser. You've always been better at the politics than me, Eirika, but I have much more battle and command experience than you. I wouldn't be able to rule effectively without your help, but that doesn't mean we have to both play the role of king and queen."

She blinked at him; "So, what are you trying to say to me, Brother?"

"I'm saying that if you love him that much, and if he returns your feelings, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't share that love. I suppose that ideally I should keep you available, in case a situation calls for an alliance marriage, but to be honest, there really aren't any other princes out there, and frankly, I don't want to send you away to marry some prince. I want you to stay close to me, to keep me in check. I really am going to need your help, Eirika. Our alliance with Frelia is already strong enough and I have another idea for how to secure it that doesn't involve you; besides, I get the feeling that Prince Innes has his eye on someone else. Prince Joshua has already informed me of his intentions to marry. Grado is in shambles, without a ruling monarchy at this time, and the only other royalty out there that I can think of is Princess L'Arachel." Then he leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder; "My dear sister, I think that you could hardly do better than the Silver Knight of Renais. He may not be of noble birth, but he has more than made up for that with his valor and loyalty. He was, after all, one of Father's most trusted knights. Father did entrust him with the secret of our bracelets and the Stone of Renais. I hardly think that our father would be bothered by you falling in love with his most trusted paladin."

She looked down; "That's as may be, Ephraim, but the fact remains that he..." She paused as emotion caught in her throat, and she took a moment to try and quell it. "I want to believe that he feels the same, but... you know how he is, Brother. He'd cut off his own arm if either of us ordered it."

Ephraim blinked; "Yes... I suppose he probably would, though he would most likely chastise us for ordering something so ridiculous. He's not afraid to tell me so when I do something he thinks is stupid. What does that have to do with how he feels about you?"

"Someone as bound to duty and the chivalric code as him surely would be able to kill his own emotions and desires."

"You'd be surprised," Ephraim said. "Seth isn't some paragon of chivalry. He's a man, just like I am, just like our father was, just like any other man in this camp. He might be able to act as though he has none of those desires, but I assure you, if he returns your affection, there's no way he can just kill those feelings on command."

She shook her head, fighting back tears; "That's all well and good, but no matter how he might feel deep inside, you know he's far too honor-bound to act on those desires, to even acknowledge that they exist."

Ephraim was silent, conceding that point.

She slumped down a bit; "Well, now you know why I've been so... as you put it, down and distracted. I just... I can't help it, Brother. I love him. The harder I try to talk myself out of it, the more I realize I can't. The more I try to convince myself that it's just infatuation, the more I realize that... infatuation or not, it's not going away..."

"Is there anything I can do to help you, Eirika? This is breaking my heart, seeing you like this."

"I don't think you can help me with this, Brother. I just need to sort through this on my own. I do appreciate the support, though." A tiny sob escaped her throat, and Ephraim reacted, standing up and pulling her into his arms in a fierce embrace. In her surprise, she lost control over her tears, and found herself weeping uncontrollably. "I-I'm sorry, Ephraim, I know you hate it when I cry, but I just... it just hurts so much..."

"I wish I could help you, Eirika," he murmured, rubbing her back gently as a gesture of comfort. "I can't bear to see you like this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A word on terminology:  
> 'Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones' seems to pattern its classes after Middle Ages warfare, and thus I have tried to use terminology commonly used by historians to describe certain aspects relating to that. I did a lot of thinking about the types of horses used by the different mounted classes in the game. I also did a fair amount of research on the subject. I do feel that I should point out the three types of warhorse I chose to use to describe the mounted units. Each of these types is based on their general use in war, as well as their physical appearance and build. If you want to learn more, you can go to Wikipedia, search for each of the terms, and it will bring up the entries that I read. Based on the different sprites for horses in the game, I chose to go with the following:
> 
> "destrier" refers to the type of horse prized by the heavily armored units. They were large, sturdy, aggressive and strong. They were not, however, noted for their speed. In my opinion, the horses depicted in the sprites of the Great Knight class seem to fit this type of horse, and given how much more armored the Great Knight is than the Paladin, this seems to be the best match. Therefore, in this story (and in my game) there are only three of these, as I had only three Great Knights: Duessel, Kyle and Forde.
> 
> "courser" refers to the type of horse more commonly used by knights. They were smaller, lighter-built horses, often with considerably more agility and speed to them. While capable of carrying a heavily-armored rider, they generally excelled with lightly-armored riders. Due to how rare the destrier was, the courser was the most commonly used type in hard combat, where armoring was a factor. (Note: if you search for this in Wikipedia, you'll need to search for "courser (horse)" to get the right page.) It seems logical to assume that the courser is smaller and less armored than the destrier, but still more heavily armored than the rouncey mentioned below. Based on the sprites depicted in the game, I felt that the horse in the paladin sprite was the best example of this kind of horse. Thus, in this fic and in my game, there are only three, as there are three paladins: Seth, Franz and Amelia.
> 
> "rouncey" refers to the most generic, all-around type of horse used in battle. While they probably weren't as talented or as highly trained as the coursers, they were much more numerous and often were more than talented enough to serve their purpose. Because this type was rarely very heavily armored, I determined that the horses for most of the mounted units in the game were probably this type.
> 
> "charger" seems to refer to any of the above types, and seems to be interchangeable with the word "warhorse"


	2. Chapter 2

"You sent for me, my prince?" Seth inquired at the doorway to the tent. Ephraim looked up and beckoned him to come inside.

The waxing moon was high over the camp; it was probably somewhere close to midnight, a good four or more hours since Eirika had finally told him what was bothering her. Ephraim knew that Eirika had turned in for the night, though whether or not she was able to sleep, he didn't know. But with her tent right next to his, he'd heard her bid everyone good night, had heard her change out of her armor and climb into her bed. In fact, most of the camp had already gone to bed, though a few of them were still sitting around the campfires, regaling each other with stories. Dozla and Garcia in particular could be heard bantering back and forth. The two of them had forged an unlikely but sturdy friendship. Despite being from separate countries, they had connected on a very deep and fundamental level, being about the same age and both being loyal axe-swinging warriors for their countries.

Ephraim was unable to sleep, his mind caught up in his sister's dilemma. He wanted to help her; seeing her so heartbroken just tore him apart.

"Please, Seth, have a seat," he gestured to one of the chairs. "I need to discuss something with you."

"I figured as much, your highness," the paladin said mildly. "What is it?"

The prince mulled over the topic, and sized up the General of the Renais Knights as he did so. Seth looked utterly exhausted, but still he maintained his good humor and gentle demeanor. He was a consummate professional in his role as the leader of the Renais Knights. King Fado had trusted this knight with everything when the future had seemed bleak. Like father, like son, it seemed; Ephraim knew he was going to need the Silver Knight's help if he was going to make himself into a good king in his father's stead.

"I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has noticed how aloof, distracted and altogether unlike herself my sister has been lately, correct?"

"If you're asking me if I noticed that Princess Eirika has been behaving a little oddly," the paladin said with just the tiniest of smiles, "then yes, your highness, I did. Have you found out what has been bothering her?"

"I did. I finally got her to tell me what's wrong. It's complicated, but thankfully not as complicated as I feared it would be. Still, it's upsetting her."

"I presume you would like my help in fixing whatever it is that has caused this?"

"Well, actually," Ephraim ran his hands through his hair, "that's just it. What's bothering her.... is you."

"Me, your highness?" The knight looked mildly alarmed. "What did I do?"

The prince raised his eyebrows deliberately. "Eirika told me that she has fallen in love, and that no matter how hard she tries, she can't seem to change her feelings." Seeing a spark of recognition in the paladin's eyes, he elaborated. "In case I'm not being clear enough, the man she's fallen in love with is you."

Seth's expression became very morose; "I feared this would happen. Prince Ephraim, I must beg your forgiveness. I take full responsibility for this. I should have been more insistent in discouraging her."

"Full responsibility? Discouraging her?" The prince was flabbergasted. "What are you talking about?"

"I am merely a knight in your service; a man of my standing has no business being the object of a queen's affections."

Ephraim tilted his head slightly; "But Eirika is not a queen, and she won't ever be the Queen of Renais, unless something happens to me before I have produced an heir. The heir of King Fado is _me_ , Seth, not Eirika. My sister will be my most trusted advisor, but the title of Queen should be reserved for my future wife. But that's all unimportant. I don't really care about that. What I want to know, and you'll have to forgive me for being so nosy and prying into your personal matters, is whether or not you return her affections."

Seth shifted uncomfortably. "Prince Ephraim, what I think and feel has nothing to do with anything. I apologize now for saying this so bluntly, but your sister is confused. I have been her guardian since Castle Renais fell, and have been at her side, protecting and guiding her as best I could, as King Fado ordered and wished, through all the trials and tribulations she has faced. I could not save your honored father, so I have dedicated myself to making sure that the last order he gave me -- to protect Princess Eirika -- is fulfilled. I believe she has transferred some of her lingering affections for your late father, and for your mutual late friend Lyon, onto me because I have been there beside her through most of this. This is compounded with the obvious guilt she still carries around at the injury I received protecting her from that Grado general. I hardly think that this qualifies as being in love."

Ephraim leveled a stern look at the knight; "Seth, I do not believe that you are in any position to tell me how my sister thinks and feels. Besides, I did not ask you what _she_ feels. I asked you what _you_ feel."

The knight closed his eyes slowly, and kept them closed; "I cannot answer your question honestly at this time, your highness. You are asking me to admit something I have not considered. I would rather not be dishonest with you."

Ephraim heaved a sigh; "Well, perhaps you should think on this a while, Seth. At the very least, come up with a definitive answer to the question. It is extremely difficult for me to watch her suffer like this."

Seth flinched at the word "suffer" and opened his eyes slowly; "I can only beg your forgiveness, your highness, for my indiscretion. I should have known this might happen, and should have discouraged her from it long before it happened."

"This _is_ Eirika we're talking about," the prince said. "She's very head-strong. Once she gets something into her head, you'd sooner convince the sun to rise in the west than change her mind." Seth was silent, careful not to meet his eyes. The silence stretched a bit, before the prince finally said; "Well, think on it, or don't think on it; whatever you need. Do keep in mind that if you do love her, she deserves to know this. And if you do love her, I promise you that you two have my blessing. You, Seth, have been the foundation for which Eirika and I have based our entire restoration campaign. Without you, I don't believe she and I would have even reunited after Castle Renais's fall."

"You give me too much credit, my prince," the paladin said softly. "I am merely a loyal knight in your employ, doing as told."

Ephraim sighed; "You are entirely too modest sometimes, Seth. I mean no disrespect to Kyle, Forde or Franz, but there is no other Knight of Renais who could have held us all together as long as you have. General Duessel taught me how to use a lance, and Father taught me how to plan military tactics, but I dare say I could still learn a thing or two about command from you."

Seth had no response to that, being far too humble to accept such high praise. "Is that all you wished to discuss, Prince Ephraim? I am rather fatigued and you look like you need some sleep, and it _is_ rather late."

"That's all," Ephraim said, feeling a sudden sense of ennui start to seep into his limbs. "Well, one more thing, but I don't want you to tell anyone about this. I trust you can keep quiet about this, since you were so good at keeping the secret of the bracelets."

The paladin nodded mutely.

"I need to discuss this with King Hayden and Prince Innes before I do anything or make any kind of announcement, but I believe that the most prudent way to firmly ally Frelia and Renais is for me to wed Tana."

Seth's eyebrows raised but he said nothing.

"I can guess what you're thinking, Seth, and I'll answer as best I can: no, I cannot say for any certainty that I am 'in love' with Tana, but I do love her. She makes me smile, she is very sweet and happy, and she would be a very good Queen for the people of Renais. She and Eirika are the best of friends, and I have always had a soft spot for Tana, even if I had a lousy way of showing it to her. However, I am not sure that Prince Innes will take too kindly to me whisking away his sister. So I must proceed with caution." He stifled a sudden yawn. "In any case, I should go to bed. I am about to collapse here. This has been a very, very long, difficult campaign."

"The most difficult part is yet ahead of us, my prince," Seth said quietly as he stood up and saluted. "Rebuilding what was destroyed can take a lifetime, or more. Good night, Prince Ephraim. I will consider what you have said, but I can make no promises."

"Good night, Seth."

* * *

Despite saying he was weary, Seth couldn't even fathom attempting to sleep right now, not with his mind spinning faster than a spiraling arrow. He really didn't want to think about all this, and yet...

His feet took him over to where the chargers were penned. Hyperion was dozing near the gate, and woke up as he approached.

"It's awfully late for you to be tending to your horse, General Seth," a voice said from the shadows as Cormag, the wyvern lord from Grado whose older brother, General Glen Sunstone of the Grado Military, had been killed by Valter Moonstone in a frame-up, stepped out from behind a tree. "Is something the matter? And do not even begin to try and tell me you're taking watch. You're not. You're too highly ranked to take a watch now."

Seth chuckled; "Nothing much gets by you, does it? I am just plagued by thoughts right now."

Cormag gave him a thin smile; "That must be the Renais Knights' polite-speak for 'Shut up and mind your own business, Cormag.' Point taken. I was just seeing to Genarog, making sure he got something to eat before going to sleep, in case there's no time for him to feed in the morning. We wouldn't want him to start sizing up the horses or a pegasus as possible meal." He gave the paladin a lazy sort of mock-salute, and disappeared into the shadows again.

Seth just shrugged that off and reached out to pat Hyperion. The stallion seemed happy enough to see him and started nosing around, hunting for treats (even though Seth rarely gave the horse any; the horse was smart enough to know that when his master was out of routine, it might mean good things like treats) and generally being the annoying pest of a horse he could be. The paladin just took it in stride, leaning against the stallion's shoulder as he tried to drain away the frustrating helplessness that had begun to well up inside him by focusing on his horse. There were a few new scars on the stallion's shoulder, he noted. The arrow wound to Hyperion's flank had healed very nicely, though.

"Good evening, General Seth."

He looked over to see Amelia passing by, looking exhausted. She must have been standing watch, and was heading to bed after being relieved from it. "Good evening, Amelia. Sleep well."

"Mm..." she paused, and Seth tensed up, wondering if she too was going to ask what was bothering him. But instead she shifted awkwardly; "Can I ask you something, General?"

"What is it?"

"Er... I know I'm from Grado, and I do love my country. I really _should_ be going back, but... Renais has been so good to me..." It was almost painfully obvious what she wanted to ask.

Seth gave her an encouraging smile; "If you desire to join the Knights of Renais, I'm sure Prince Ephraim will welcome you, and I know that I will be honored to command you. You are a rare, rare talent, Amelia. Princess Eirika vouched for you to be promoted to a full paladin, and you have proven yourself time and again to be worth every bit of it."

"That means a lot to me, General!" She grinned happily. "It's really all thanks to Franz, if you want to know. He helped me out so much! When we first met, he decided we should be rivals like his brother and Sir Kyle are, and... well... it's thanks to him that I've gotten so much better at holding a spear. I'm, well, not so good with a sword, but I can hold a spear pretty well... right?"

"Your skills with a lance are more than adequate, Amelia, but I dare say that you have no peer in Renais when it comes to a javelin. The javelin is the one spear type that Prince Ephraim does not excel at, and even I have trouble with it at times, but your accuracy is amazing."

She blushed; "Well, I kind of had to get good at it, since Franz and Sir Gilliam were always pushing me behind them in battle, taking the hits for me, forcing me to use my javelin in order to show that I belonged in the battle. Plus, the javelins are lighter than the big heavy lances like Sir Gilliam uses..."

"Mm, well, your skills with the javelin seem to rival those of the best Frelian pegasus knights. I imagine you could serve Renais very well with nothing more than a set of javelins in your holsters."

She turned a tiny bit redder; "Thank you, General Seth. It means a lot to me to hear such praise from you. I know Franz thinks the world of you, just as I idolized General Duessel when I joined Grado's army. I really do feel like I should return to Grado, but Renais has been just so good to me, I feel I owe the Prince and Princess far more than I could ever repay. I feel like I would be more welcome in Renais than Grado... it feels like I have family and friends in Renais, whereas in Grado, I'd go back to being alone..." She looked a bit downcast. "I don't like being alone anymore..."

"I am certain you will be welcome in Renais, and I imagine Franz would be heartbroken if you were to return to Grado. He certainly thinks quite highly of you." He managed to not flinch at the word "heartbroken" given what he was out here to think about. To his amusement, Amelia turned even redder at the compliment.

"Well... er... he d-did say he wanted... to walk b-beside me on my path, and t-to be my sword while I was his shield."

"Franz was a squire to me before he was sworn in to the ranks of the Knights of Renais, Amelia. I don't know if you realized that or not. He may have an older brother already, but in many ways, I have viewed him at times to be like the younger brother I never had. I trained him myself. I have watched him grow from a bumbling squire to a competent cavalier, but the moment you joined our side, I saw a change in him. A change for the better, I should add. He has become an indispensable paladin, and I would not be surprised if we have you to thank for that. His brother is a very, very talented knight, their father was almost a legend, but Franz outshines them both in almost every possible way." Then he shook his head, noticing that she was starting to list a bit in fatigue; "Forgive me, Amelia. You are clearly exhausted and here I am talking your ear off. Go get some sleep. We can continue this conversation tomorrow."

She saluted tiredly; "Yes sir, General. Thank you and good night... and I hope you find whatever answers you seem to be searching for, yourself."

Seth glanced sharply over at her, but she was already scurrying away toward her tent, and he just shook it off. It was a little disconcerting that now both people he'd encountered had noticed he was a little out of sorts.

By now, it was obvious that Hyperion wanted to be left alone, so he patted the stallion once more and left the enclosure. The camp was largely silent, save for the faint buzzing of nighttime insects and the dull din of many sleeping people. His mind strayed to the topic he was trying to avoid and yet couldn't get out of his thoughts entirely. It felt so weird, being all but out and out told by his sovereign liege that he was free to pursue the woman he desired, considering how high above his station she was. He shook his head; that couldn't be right. He was letting himself fantasize. Besides, surely Princess Eirika was mistaken in her belief that she was in love. She had lost her home, her father, had been frightened that she would lose her twin brother, and she had witnessed Seth himself take a grievous wound in defense of her. Surely that was why she had believed she "felt something more" on that fateful day. And worse, now that her and Ephraim's dear friend Lyon was dead, after a horrible struggle that had put all three of them -- both of the twins and the Prince of Grado -- through emotional and psychological hell, she was surely clinging to the guardian that she had relied on to help her through everything. As much as he cared about her and wanted to love her and be loved by her, he didn't want to end up a burden to her, shackling her...

"General Seth? Is that you?"

He stopped abruptly and peered into the shadows, to see Kyle leaning against a tree. The knight was apparently on the current watch.

"Good evening, Kyle," the paladin said, trying to sound serene and confident.

"What are you doing up so late? You're usually the one who organizes the breaking of camp."

"What, can't a man check on his horse without everyone questioning his motives?"

Kyle's expression sharpened. "You were checking on your horse? Did Hyperion get hurt or something?"

"No, I was just checking on him. He doesn't like Duessel's charger very well, you know. That's all."

Kyle was clearly unconvinced and was silent a moment, looking down at his feet. "General. I know that I'm in no position to tell you what to do. You're my commanding officer. I have no business prying into your personal affairs, and I have no intentions of doing so, either. But please, don't insult my intelligence by lying so bald-facedly to me."

Seth had no answer to that.

"It's very obvious, sir, that you're deeply troubled by something. You're pacing. You never pace. You've been the calm we've all relied upon, so to see you so obviously unnerved... well, let's just say that something that has the Silver Knight worried must be pretty severe. But it's none of my business what bothers you. I just don't like dishonesty, especially from someone so highly regarded by everyone as you are. So, with all due respect, sir, please just acknowledge that something is bothering you and don't hide it."

Seth heaved a sigh; "I'm apparently as opaque as a pane of glass. You're the third person I've run into tonight, and the third person to notice. Yes, I have something on my mind. It's personal, and should not affect any of you."

"Still, it's unnerving to see you of all people so keyed up. That's probably why everyone notices and why we say something. You're kind of our pillar of composure, General."

Seth chuckled sardonically. "You make me sound like some sort of paragon of chivalry. I assure you, Kyle, even I have some skeletons in my proverbial closet."

Kyle shuddered. "So long as they aren't bonewalkers or wights, I'm fine with that."

That elicited a surprised laugh from the paladin. "No, I am quite certain that none of my 'skeletons' are in fact animate monsters with weapons."

"Good. My side _still_ aches from where that one wight nailed me with a horseslayer lance."

Seth shook his head; "I'll thank you to not assume I'd be so evil as to have something like _that_ in storage."

"Hey! Don't put words in my mouth that I never intended to say! Good grief, General, you're almost as bad as Forde sometimes!"

The paladin just laughed; "I'm not sure if I should be offended by that. In any case, I won't distract you from your watch. I know you take these things seriously. I'll continue my rounds. Make sure you get enough sleep once your watch is over. I do rely on you and Forde to keep the prince in line, after all."

Kyle saluted. "You've nothing to fear, sir. I know my charge quite well by now. Babysitting Forde is just part of the package. Er, good luck with whatever's troubling you, General."

Seth just sort of waved that off as he moved away, hoping to find somewhere secluded where he could finally put his thoughts in order and debate on what, if anything, he was going to do. This promised to be a long, painful and altogether tiring process, but with any luck, he'd come to a conclusion before they broke camp in the morning.

Finding the courage to enact whatever his decision was, however, potentially was the hardest part.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, I didn't realize there was a timeline introduced in Seth and Franz's A-support, so when I wrote this, I made my own timeline for Seth's career as a knight. By the time I learned the details of the Franz-Seth A-support, I had already established this story, so I am ignoring it. If this bothers anyone, I'm sorry, but theoretically, that information isn't necessarily canon considering you only learn it if you get the A-support through Franz and Seth, which you don't get if you have an A-support for Seth and Eirika. Again, my apologies, but I'm standing firm on this.

Eirika awoke shortly after dawn in a bit of a haze. She'd cried herself to sleep -- silently, so as not to alarm anyone -- in an attempt to alleviate the strain on her emotions, but the hydration imbalance now from such an act left her with a dull headache and eyes that felt entirely too sensitive. She burrowed in her covers a little bit and massaged her forehead. This unpleasantness was weighing her down. She needed to get back home and get busy with the rebuilding of her country. Maybe then her traitorous heart would stop aching so much. At least some distraction would be welcome.

Finally, she got out of bed, stretched herself to get rid of the kinks in her joints, and dressed. She knew she should go get something to eat, but her stomach felt leaden, uninterested in food. As she pulled her boots on and belted her sword scabbard to her waist, she sighed in resignation and opened her tent, stepping out into an overcast daylight.

She fully expected to see Seth directing the breaking of camp, as was his usual routine. The paladin was an early riser in general, and of late Eirika had gotten a small kick out of watching from her tent as he directed the methodical deconstruction of their campsite. On sunny mornings in particular, the way the morning light glanced off his bright red hair had made for an enjoyable sight, at least up until now.

However, today, things were different. Seth was nowhere in sight, and in his usual place stood a very groggy Ephraim.

"Brother... what happened? You look awful."

"Didn't get much sleep last night. Had a lot of stuff to think about and talk about." He stifled a yawn. "You don't look like you slept very well either, Eirika."

"I... well, I sort of did. I just... am so very tired."

"Mm. Well, I don't want to tarry too long at Rausten court when we reach it, no matter how insistent L'Arachel is. One or two nights at the most. We really need to get back to Renais and start wrangling in the outlaws."

"Agreed." She looked around surreptitiously, but the only red hair she saw immediately was the long mane belonging to Joshua, the swordmaster prince from Jehanna. "Brother... where is Seth?"

"Hm? I don't know."

"Doesn't he usually supervise the breaking of camp?"

"Well, he wasn't there to start it this morning, so I've taken it up. I do need to get used to this 'commanding large groups of people' gig, after all."

Eirika tried to quell an uneasy feeling in her gut. This was altogether too unlike Seth for comfort. She noted that the other Renais Knights were starting to gather around the prince and princess, and to a one, they looked a little concerned. Amelia was tagging along with Franz, and looked remarkably intimidated. There was a loud rustle behind them as Cormag and his wyvern Genarog took off into the sky to hunt for a morning meal for the dragon. The horses panicked briefly, but settled down once the wyvern was gone. The three pegasus knights' mounts, on the other hand, were completely unconcerned.

"Wonder where he's run off to," Forde said with a lazy yawn. "'s not like the General to disappear like that. He can take care of himself, so we shouldn't need to worry about him, but his lance is still propped up against his tent and his other weapons are with Hyperion's tack. And Hyperion's still in the pen."

"Well, I will say this much," Ephraim said, glancing mischievously over at one of his most trusted companions, "unlike a certain lazybones I know, I believe Seth has earned a vacation once we get home to Renais."

Forde made a face in mock-offense. "Like he'd take a vacation. He's never done it yet. You'd have to issue an actual sovereign order for him to relax before he'll do it. He makes me tired just watching him."

Kyle sighed in exasperation. "Forde, your laziness knows no bounds."

"Indeed. I'm still alive though, that has to count for something."

"Your incredible luck, most likely."

Franz looked troubled. "I've never known General Seth to shirk his duties like this. Are you sure he's all right, Prince Ephraim? You were the last person to see him, weren't you?"

"I don't know that, Franz. I don't know who else he encountered after he left my tent. I went to bed shortly after he left. Couldn't sleep, mind you, but I did go to bed."

"I... I saw him," Amelia said hesitantly. "I was just getting off my watch, Sir Kyle had just relieved me, and I saw him with his horse. He looked... he looked really sad. And yet, he still took the time to cheer me up, even though I was mostly just so exhausted that I was being silly in the head."

Eirika blinked. Seth "looked really sad"? The Silver Knight almost never emoted, choosing to let his actions and words speak for him instead. The stoic leader of the Knights of Renais was a firm believer in controlling one's emotions and remaining calm no matter the circumstances.

"I saw him too," Kyle said. "He was pacing a lot, seemed lost in thought. He also, uh, wasn't very truthful with me and I called him on it. I mean, it was so obvious that he was upset about something and yet he tried to pass it off as just concern for his horse. And looking at Hyperion, there's nothing wrong with him. General Seth did tell me that whatever was bothering him was of no concern to me, that it was strictly personal."

Eirika shifted uncomfortably; "Brother, shouldn't we go looking for him? This is really unusual. Or do you know something you're not telling me?"

"Just try to have some faith in him, Eirika."

She did her best to quell the growing sense of panic that was taking hold of her belly, sticking close to Ephraim's side while he directed the convoy to assemble nearby and oversaw the methodical breaking down and storing of the sleeping tents.

"My most profound apologies for my tardiness, Prince Ephraim," a voice said from behind them, and Eirika whipped around in surprise. Seth was approaching, and he looked about as ragged as she felt. "I have no excuse for my tardiness."

"Just don't do it again," Ephraim said good-naturedly. "I wasn't worried, but everyone else was a little concerned, and Eirika here was freaking right out."

"I was not, Brother!"

"Pshaw," the prince grinned. "You've been attached to my side since you got up, like you were afraid to let me out of range and you bugged me about Seth more than once. You were freaking out and you know it."

"Are... you okay, General Seth?" Franz inquired. "You look terrible. Did you not get any sleep?"

"No, I did not. I did not even go to bed. I... had too much on my mind. I lost track of time, as well."

"Hopefully things are a little clearer for you now," Ephraim said. "It was a rough night for several of us, I think."

"Mm," Seth was noncommittal in his response, "Princess Eirika, might I have a moment to speak with you in private?"

"What?" She blinked stupidly at him. "Oh, sorry, yes, of course. You'll have to forgive me, Seth, I'm a little foggy today."

"There is nothing to forgive, my lady." He gestured off to one side, and she followed his direction to a somewhat secluded part of the campsite.

Once they had gotten themselves situated, she looked at him expectantly; "What is it, Seth? You really do look terrible. I'm not used to seeing you so disheveled."

"Ah," he looked a bit sheepish, "I am truly sorry that I worried you, Princess. I merely had some things to sort through in my own mind, and I can't think straight if I'm not on my feet."

"I see. What did you need to speak with me about?"

He cleared his throat, looking extremely agitated. "Your brother spoke with me last night. About, er, what has been bothering you lately."

She closed her eyes in dismay, doing her best to ignore the welling sense of horrified embarrassment that Ephraim had disclosed to Seth what she felt; "Well that didn't take him very long, did it! I had hoped he would exercise a little more confidentiality than that."

"He is very concerned about you, Princess. As am I. You have not been yourself for a while, and..." He looked uncomfortable. "I do not think I can beg forgiveness for having caused you this pain, my lady, but I fear I must still do so. I never intended to cause you such grief, and I can only beg your forgiveness for my lack of foresight."

"You don't have to beg forgiveness, Seth," she said softly. "I'm not angry with you at all. None of this is your fault."

"I beg to differ, my lady. I did not realize that my words would cause you so much pain."

"They didn't."

"Then why...?"

"I am just weak at heart right now," she said, though she didn't believe it herself. "My father has died, my dearest friend has died a horrible death, and now my brother and I must rebuild our country. And you have been my pillar of strength through it all. Perhaps I've been projecting my insecurities and transferring them to a feeling of love? I don't really know."

Was it her imagination, or did he look a little deflated at that? "I see. I am not surprised."

She looked away. "You should feel no obligation to me, Seth. My feelings are my own and I will work through them. Even if it really is love and not some facade..."

"Milady, if I may...? You do not seem overly convinced yourself."

She flinched. "Well, convinced or not, this is how it must be, right? Did you not say that you would never again forget your duty?"

He closed his eyes wearily. "I did say that. I fear I may have overestimated my own abilities, though."

She blinked, trying to parse that. "What do you mean?"

He heaved a heavy sigh; "I must beg your forgiveness, my dear princess. Despite all my best efforts to steer it aside, it seems that my heart cannot forget what it has felt. I fear that no matter how hard I try, I cannot abandon the affections that seem to have taken root. Improper as it may be for a man of my station to a woman of your stature, it seems I cannot let these desires go."

She couldn't help herself; she stared owlishly at him; "Seth... are you saying...?"

"I am saying, my princess, that I love you, far more than a knight should ever love the princess to whom he is sworn." He bowed his head down. "I should be ashamed of myself for this. When Prince Ephraim told me, I wanted to be sad for you, but inside, I was... well, I was sort of glad to know that you feel this way. And if my affections can make you happy, Princess, then I will do everything in my power to see to it that you stay that way. But if we are mistaken..."

Her eyes welled up with tears. This was too good to be true...

"Princess?"

"Please," she said softly, "say it just one more time. Tell me I wasn't hearing things. I have wanted to hear those words, that confession, from you... tell me just one more time, so that I can't possibly be mistaken..."

He reached out and put a hand at her cheek, hesitantly; "My princess... I love you--" he was cut off from saying anything further by her lunging at him and flinging her arms around him. She did it so abruptly and unexpectedly that it caught him completely off guard and he lost his balance entirely. The two of them crashed to the ground in a heap.

"Ow..." he groaned as their mutual collapse caused him to land awkwardly, jarring his injured side, close to where that wyvern general, Valter Moonstone, had stabbed him all those months ago, a spot that had remained vulnerable to attack since then despite his best efforts to shield and heal it. "Princess Eirika... I understand you are happy, but that sort of hurt..." Then he laughed feebly; "Ah, my lady, if I had known that my saying so would make you so happy, I would have said this much sooner! My most sincere apologies for misreading the entire situation. I am a war commander, not an expert in matters of the heart."

She was sobbing softly, hugging him as she did so; "I don't care at all, Seth. I was just as foolish, to assume you couldn't possibly truly love me, because of the social dividing line... I misjudged you. I thought you were all about the chivalric code and vows... I never considered that you might feel other than what you're dictated to do by your knighthood. And I promise, when we get home, I'll see to it that the finest medics in all of Magvel have a look at you, to end this suffering you've endured from that wound Valter gave you while you shielded me."

"Milady, please, I have told you before that you owe me no--"

"Be quiet," she said in a fierce whisper. "I _want_ to do this. I can't bear to see you in pain like this. It has nothing to do with guilt or feeling that I owe you anything. It has everything to do with the fact that I cannot bear to see the man I love suffer from something if there is anything I can do to help. You're not merely my subject anymore, Seth. You're the love of my life."

He shook his head in resignation; "I should know better, shouldn't I? You can't be dissuaded when you believe in something. Very well, my lady, I submit to your decision, but do understand that I will not take kindly to you continuing to feel guilty over this. I became a knight in order to protect your family. This is what I was knighted to do. The fact that Valter Moonstone's lance was able to pierce my armor so easily is a testament to how powerful a wyvern knight he was." He shifted onto his knees and started to stand up, wincing in acute pain.

"Seth," she said softly as she offered him some support as he got to his feet. "Please, don't be stupidly proud. Let me help you once in a while."

"Milady," he said gently, "I am still a knight in service to the crown of Renais. My love for you has not changed what I am. I am here to help you, not the other way around."

"Are you two quite finished?" A voice said from behind them. Ephraim was peering at them. "What on earth happened? You're both covered in dirt."

Seth chuckled softly; "Lady Eirika is certainly boisterous when she is in a good mood."

"Ah. Good mood, huh? And given your proximity, and what I just heard, am I to assume that my gamble paid off?"

"Brother, I should slap you for this," Eirika hissed, flushing in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have to _tell_ you to keep confidential something that was confessed to you in private!"

Ephraim looked sheepish; "I debated for hours whether to do anything, Eirika. It was clear to me that you weren't going to say anything to Seth about it, and if left alone, the whole situation would have just soured and made you all the more miserable. I really, really wanted to help you somehow, but I couldn't figure out how to, unless I figured out how Seth fit into everything." Then his brow furrowed. "Seth, are you all right? You're standing awkwardly."

"I landed wrong, is all, my prince."

"'Landed wrong,' my ass," another voice said from nearby. "Looks like you might've reopened a recent wound there, General. Let me go fetch Natasha for you." Joshua, the wayward prince of Jehanna, vanished as quickly as he'd appeared.

Seth glanced down, but there was no visible blood on his side and he just shrugged.

Eirika's eyes were welling with tears; "You tell me not to worry about your wound and yet--"

"My lady, this is not where Valter Moonstone stabbed me. This is from a javelin thrown by a bonewalker in the Frelian tower."

"It doesn't matter _where_ you got that injury!" She retorted, dashing the tears from her eyes. "You're in agony, I can see it, and yet you still act like nothing is wrong. I can't bear to see you in so much pain."

Sister Natasha, a cleric from Grado who had become the company's most trusted and most potent healer, hurried over; "I came as fast as I could. Joshua told me that you have reinjured yourself, General?"

Seth groaned in frustration; "It's just an old wound that I jarred when Princess Eirika knocked me over."

"An old wound?"

"Well, all right, a location that has been wounded several times over the course of this war."

She placed a hand hesitantly against his ribcage; "Is this the spot where your ribs were broken before?"

"Yes it is."

"I see. Hold still a moment, General. I will strengthen the mending again." She drew out her Mend staff and activated it with a prayer. A warm blue light enveloped them both briefly. The pain left Seth's expression, replaced by a sense of relief and calmness, the very one that Eirika had relied upon so much.

"Thank you, Sister Natasha," he said gratefully.

"Would that I could return to Renais with you, General, and tend this while it heals. It will be a long time healing."

"Are you going to return to Grado?" Eirika inquired.

"No, she's coming back to Jehanna with me," Joshua said, reappearing. He put an arm across Natasha's shoulders, almost as if in possessiveness. Still, Natasha didn't seem to mind in the slightest; in fact, she seemed to lean just a tiny bit closer to the redheaded swordmaster.

"I really would like to go back to Grado and help it rebuild," Natasha said softly, "but Joshua needs my help, and if the people of Jehanna can benefit from my help, then it doesn't matter where I am, I suppose. And I do rather feel that I, as a person of Grado, owe Jehanna some help in its rebuilding. It was my country that caused Jehanna to fall into such disarray, and to lose its beloved Queen Ismaire."

Joshua made a sort of "harrumph" noise and grinned; "Mind you, she's not going to be doing the actual building, no matter what it is she wants to do. There's a difference between what you do as a cleric, and what you do as the queen."

Natasha blushed and looked away. "You keep going on about that, Joshua, but you know you'll be rolling up your sleeves and helping out too."

"Yes, indeed, I will. And you will too, I've no doubt. But there's a limit on how much help you'll be able to do, my dear."

"Ah, so this is the bride you were going on about, hmm?" Prince Innes of Frelia said as he approached. "I wondered who this mysterious bride you had chosen was, if she was someone amongst us or not."

"Some genius you are," Joshua smirked. "Ephraim at least had an idea and asked outright when I told him."

"Ephraim asked you if you intended to marry his sister, not our esteemed healer," the Frelian prince snapped. "You forget, I was there. You insult my intelligence when you say he is smarter than I am."

"Enough," Ephraim said, waving it off. By now, the convoy had finished breaking up the camp and two workers had brought over Thrush and Storm to Eirika and Ephraim. Franz brought over a tacked-up Hyperion, who was snorting and prancing, eager to set off.

"You're not my squire anymore, Franz," Seth admonished gently as he took his stallion's reins. "Why did you do this? You know I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my own horse, even with a broken arm, which I most certainly do not have right now!"

"Prince Ephraim told me to." Franz's eyes were bright with optimism as he all but skipped over to his own horse and climbed aboard. "Come on, General, we should get moving! Everyone's waiting on you!"

The paladin sighed and looked over at his prince and princess as they mounted their horses. Then he smiled to himself. This was promising to be an interesting day.

* * *

As they stopped for a rest in late afternoon or early evening, Ephraim flagged down the four aerial fighters to get an updated report on the area around them. Syrene and Vanessa had nothing to report, Cormag had only spotted a small band of thieves fleeing into the mountains the moment they spied the wyvern lord, but Tana had the most disturbing news.

"I saw what looked like an organized group of brigands advancing on a village not far from Rausten court. I didn't fly in close enough to ascertain anything, because at least two of them appear to have bows on them, and I didn't want to alert them to our presence by letting them see me."

L'Arachel looked slightly annoyed; "How dare they! We should go chase them out at once!"

Ephraim rubbed his forehead in resignation; dealing with the Rausten crown princess could be so tiring sometimes. "Princess L'Arachel, we are all exhausted, and..."

"Our weapons are in shambles after that _ass-kicking_ we got in Darkling Woods," mercenary commander Gerik said. "My sword has so many cracks in it, one more strike with it will break it."

"But these ruffians are--" L'Arachel started to argue, when Seth interrupted.

"I have a much better idea, Princess. Why don't we hurry to Rausten court, inform Pontifex Mansel about these brigands, and let him deal with it?"

The princess brightened. "Of course! Uncle will surely handle it! You're pretty smart there, General Seth. I should like to have you commanding Rausten's sacred army!"

"Oh no you don't!" Ephraim said. "Seth is staying in Renais. We need him."

"Well if Seth defects to Rausten," Forde said with a grin, "Kyle can be promoted to Knight General like I'm sure he would want. Then I can resign and -- "

"Shut it, Forde. Seth's not going anywhere," Ephraim insisted. "Are you, Seth?"

The paladin chuckled as he shook his head; "With all due respect, Princess L'Arachel, Rausten has suffered the least from Grado's atrocities. Also, Renais is my home."

"Oh, very well." The Rausten princess just mock-pouted a moment and then laughed. "I was joking anyway, Ephraim. You should know that! Well you can always visit. You and Eirika both! I insist! And you, General. You should visit too! You and Eirika must visit together."

Seth flushed a bit at the obvious implication, and after a moment, Eirika blushed as well; "L'Arachel! Please!"

The energetic princess wheeled her rouncey around; "Let's go! To Rausten court! We will return to my beloved uncle with our heads held high and proud!"

"When does she ever _not_ have her head high and proud?" Seth overheard Forde mutter and shot the blond knight a dirty look. L'Arachel had already heeled her horse and was galloping off.

"But we stopped to rest..." Franz said, sounding disappointed. "I'm exhausted and the horses all need a break."

"Tana," Ephraim looked up at the hovering FalcoKnight. "Can you round her up? I don't want her getting too far ahead of us, but our horses need a breather."

"Leave it to me!" The Frelian princess said cheerfully, tugging at her pegasus's reins. "C'mon, Achaeus, let's go!"

"With all due respect, your highness," a sardonic voice said from just behind Storm's rump, "if it's a band of brigands in Rausten, they're not going to wait for us to catch our breath before we go report on them."

"I'm aware of that, Rennac," Ephraim said without looking back, "but what exactly would you have me do?"

Rennac, a sour-faced, snarky rogue hailing from Carcino, made a face; "I don't give a damn one way or another. I was just pointing out what should be obvious." Then he looked haughtily over at another rogue, a young man by the name of Colm, who came from a burned-out western Renais village named Lark. "See what happens when you try and play nice guy? These regal types step all over ya. Or they stiff ya, like that crazy princess does."

Colm bristled and looked away. Unlike Rennac, he wasn't a rogue by choice as much as by necessity. In order to keep himself and his childhood friend Neimi (who was the company's only ranger, and a crack shot with a bow and arrow, able to outshoot even Innes at times) alive during devastating poverty, he'd learned to steal to sustain the two of them. He wasn't all that proud of it, though sometimes he acted like it just to downplay how badly he felt about it.

The tense moment was snapped when Hyperion reared up suddenly, neighing loudly and clawing at the air with his hooves. An instant later, Cormag's wyvern began shrieking angrily and beating his great wings, kicking up a small whirlwind of dust and road-dirt.

Eirika was bewildered and looked at her brother in concern, but before she could even ask a question, Seth's horse body-slammed hers, knocking her off Thrush's back with the force of the collision. As she fell, she felt rather than saw or heard the arrow whizzing just past where her head had been a few seconds before. The moment she hit the ground, she tucked into a roll and came up onto her feet with ease, returning to her horse's side in a few heartbeats.

"Franz! Amelia! With me!" Seth roared, unsheathing his sword and spurring Hyperion forward. "Forde, Kyle, you protect our sovereigns!" The three paladins charged into the thicket after the source of the arrow.

"Circle up!" Duessel commanded. "Armored units to the outsides, healers to the inside! Archers, prepare your bows! Magic users, be ready to strike!"

Ephraim leaned over Storm's neck, flattening himself against the gelding so as to make himself harder to hit. "I hope that was one of those bandits Cormag saw."

"Couldn't be," Cormag said as he steadied his wyvern, making the dragon mantle its wings so as to lessen itself as a target. "They were too far away. Either it's someone operating alone, or it's part of the brigands Princess Tana saw."

Kyle positioned himself and his horse in front of Ephraim, his shield raised defensively, as Forde did the same with Eirika. Duessel circled the tightening formation, barking orders and forcing the company to withdraw itself in further to maintain its nucleus.

"This is just bad timing," Innes grumbled as he readied his bow and his quiver of arrows. "You idiot, Ephraim, you sent my sister off to get that idiot princess, and now she could get shot down on her way back!"

"She'll be fine," Syrene said as she and her pegasus sidled into the center. "The moment she sees this formation, she'll know what's up and she'll get out of range. She's not stupid by any means, and she knows her weaknesses."

Ephraim fidgeted, uncharacteristically nervous. "Be safe, Tana," he murmured, so softly that Eirika only barely heard it. Then the thicket in front of them shuddered and surrendered a riderless dun stallion with familiar Renais tack. Eirika's heart flipped in alarm. No, not now... not after everything, not to some lousy bandit...!

"General Seth..." Kyle said, his voice laced with horror. "Hyperion never leaves his side in battle!"

"Amelia and Franz were with him; it's not like he went alone! Why is that horse the only one to come back?" Forde sounded almost panicked. Eirika found herself starting to panic with the obvious anxiety that both Kyle and Forde were exhibiting, and seeing Ephraim second-guessing himself wasn't helping. "Dammit, Franz and I made it through this war, there's no way I'm going to let my kid brother die now!" He reached for his lance, but Kyle was faster.

"We can't follow them, Forde. There's no way our horses will be able to get through that underbrush with any kind of decent speed."

"Pull yourselves together!" Duessel bellowed to the two Great Knights. "Don't drop your guards! You have a job to do! I shouldn't have to remind you of your own General's orders!"

Neimi had drawn her rouncey alongside Eirika's, her bow drawn and ready to fire into the thicket. "He'll be okay, Princess," the young woman said softly. "After all, he took down that crazy wyvern general in the desert of Jehanna, didn't he? Just have some faith and keep yourself safe so that he won't have to worry."

Then the thicket moved again, and Neimi fired her arrow.

"Yikes! Hey! No thanks for the friendly fire!" Franz protested loudly, just barely getting his shield up in time to block the arrow. "Sister Natasha! We need your help! Amelia's horse got hurt."

"Where's Seth?" Kyle demanded. "Where'd the General go? His horse came back, but he didn't come with it."

"He's got the archer pinned." Franz glanced at the prince and princess and grinned sheepishly when he realized that they were both worried. "We're not hurt. General Seth might've gotten a bit of a scrape when he catapulted off Hyperion to pin the archer, but he's not hurt. That archer... She didn't get a chance to graze any of _us_ , but Amelia's horse got hit by an arrow. Oh and she was operating alone, we think. She won't talk beyond saying she's a bounty hunter. So I think the danger's past." Then he helped Natasha aboard his horse and disappeared again.

Ephraim relaxed, and dragged his hands across his face; "I am ashamed of myself. I completely froze, unable to handle this whole mess. This isn't even a real crisis and I couldn't act at all!"

"Thank the gods that Duessel had the presence of mind to take up the command," Innes muttered.

Duessel gave Ephraim a sympathetic look; "It happens to all of us. You've been through a lot, Prince Ephraim, but you haven't commanded enough for it to be second nature."

"My nerves are completely shot. I let this get the better of me."

"Me too, Brother." Eirika was shaking. "I think we're more traumatized by what happened to Lyon than we realized."

"Lyon? What, the Demon King we fought wasn't traumatizing?" Innes snapped. "Regardless, Ephraim, if you want to be a decent king, you'd better steel those nerves. You can't drop your guard like that, and you won't have Duessel to cover for you forever. You may not even have Seth to cover for your faults much longer, if you don't watch it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that your carelessness will get even the Silver Knight killed, given enough time." The Frelian prince was calmly unstringing his bow as he spoke. "It'd be a great shame, for you to foolishly waste the life of such an enormously talented and renown knight."

"Innes, please," Eirika said softly. "Please stop antagonizing my brother, and please stop talking about something so morbid."

Time seemed to have solidified, as it felt like forever before the absent paladins returned. Franz's horse had a bound-and-gagged prisoner slung across its saddle and Amelia's horse had dried blood on its chest but seemed otherwise alert and unharmed.

Seth was the last to reappear, and to Eirika's horror, there was fresh blood on his right shoulder. Natasha hurried over to the convoy and dug through one of the packs, withdrawing a fresh Heal staff.

"I'll take care of that wound, General," she said. "I apologize for not having another one on me. I didn't expect to have to heal twice."

"Please stop apologizing, Sister Natasha," the paladin said tiredly. "I am used to this kind of injury; it was more important that you heal the horse on the spot, even at the expense of your Mend staff, than to fix this minor injury. I warrant you it's bleeding more than I expected, but it is nothing serious, just a tear in the flesh."

"What happened?" Ephraim demanded. "Franz said you weren't hurt, that no one was hurt except the horse."

Seth let out a grunt; "Franz wasn't there when the bounty hunter pulled a knife and tried to stab me."

"She didn't just 'try,' General," Amelia said mildly, "she buried that dagger to the hilt in your shoulder."

Seth just looked annoyed; "Need I remind you that my armor stopped most of the blade?" Then he glanced up and met Eirika's gaze, and looked a little sheepish; "Princess Eirika, Prince Ephraim, my most sincere apologies for having worried you both."

"We were only worried when your horse came back without you," Ephraim said. "I've never seen you parted from him in battle."

"I gave Hyperion the command to flee because we were in tight quarters in that grove, and when Amelia's horse got shot, I did not want to chance any other horses getting hurt. I apologize, as I did not consider what his solo return would mean to you."

Eirika had dismounted her horse and was sidling up to the Silver Knight. "Seth..." She willed the tears away. For the briefest of moments, while he'd been struggling with the would-be assassin, she had had to consider continuing her life without him at her side, and the thought frightened her now. Seeing him wounded like this...

"I am sorry, Princess Eirika," he said gently. "I did not intend to upset you. I merely did what I as a knight have been charged with doing my entire career."

"There," Natasha said, stowing away the Heal staff once she'd finished using it. "General, you really must be more careful. That was no ordinary flesh wound. It might not have looked like much, but that blade bit deep enough to very nearly pierce a vital artery."

Seth blinked in surprise; "Surely you are exaggerating... it couldn't have been that bad..."

She shook her head; "I'm sorry, but no, I'm not mistaken and I'm not exaggerating. You said you are used to this sort of injury? Perhaps that is why you do not believe me -- you are so inured to pain that you did not realize the wound was so deep."

Ephraim reined his horse around; "I presume that you captured this rogue archer for a reason, instead of executing her, Seth?"

"Indeed. We are within the jurisdiction of Pontifex Mansel. The attempted assassination of the princess of Renais within the borders of the Theocracy of Rausten would therefore fall to his discipline."

"Then let's get a move on. We've wasted enough time idling here, and the fact that Tana hasn't returned can only mean that L'Arachel refused to backtrack."

"Ephraim and his bizarre logic. And he uses _my_ sister as the test-creature!" Innes muttered.

Syrene rolled her eyes and elbowed him gently; "With all due respect, Your Highness, Prince Ephraim _is_ in charge here. In a manner of speaking, anyway. And besides, he trusts Princess Tana to be careful and to be efficient. Perhaps you should have a little more faith in your sister?"

Innes glared at her but said no more, conceding the point. He was a proud, somewhat vain and arrogant individual, but he wasn't stupidly so. He was smart enough to know when he'd been outmaneuvered, and of the Frelians present, only Syrene seemed to have the guts enough to actually point out that he was in the wrong.

Syrene and Vanessa took to the skies as the company began moving again, headed directly toward Rausten court, which was just visible beyond a small rise in the landscape. If they hurried, they'd get there by nightfall. Eirika steered Thrush over to match strides with Hyperion.

"Seth..." She could only breathe his name, unable to form any other words. It made her almost angry with herself; she didn't like to think of herself as a lovesick damsel. She believed she had more self-respect than that. Nevertheless, the mere thought of losing him now, after all they'd been through, was almost too much to bear. She was still reeling from the loss of her beloved father, and the horrific way in which one of her dearest friends had died.

"My dear princess," he said softly, reaching over to cover her hand on the reins, "please do not worry. Once we are back home in Renais, there should not be anywhere near the danger. The work will be hard, make no mistake, but there should not be the mortal danger that we have been facing for so long."

"I know," she said with a sigh, shifting her hand so that she could hold his. It felt awkward to hold hands like this while on horseback, and she had a feeling that Seth was uncomfortable with the outward display of affection, but for the moment, she didn't care what anyone saw or thought. "I just... don't want to lose anyone precious to me again." She shook her head abruptly. "I'm sorry. I'm being so maudlin lately! I think I'm just too traumatized by what all has happened recently. I hope that when we get home to Renais, my nerves will recover. I can count on your support, right?"

"Of course you can, my lady. You needn't ask. I will be at your side the entire way. I have dedicated my life to serving the throne of Renais, and that is what I intend to do to my very last breath. I wear my title, and this armor, with pride."

By now, the company had gotten moving at a fairly decent pace and they could no longer maintain any physical proximity. She contented herself with riding alongside him, casting glances at him every now and then, allowing herself to admire his features and marvel that she could have captured the fancy of such a fine, loyal man. Her heart swelled in her chest. This wasn't just any fine, loyal man, either. This was her father's most trusted confidante, as well as the most highly regarded knight in all of Renais. And this was the man who had saved her countless times.

The sun was sinking low in the sky as they pulled up before the walls of Rausten Palace. Pontifex Mansel was waiting for them at the gate, with L'Arachel at his side. As the company came to a halt and began to dismount their horses, Tana came out and approached Ephraim.

"I'm really sorry, Ephraim," she said, looking very unhappy, "but she just wouldn't be denied. I tried everything I could to get her to come back, but she was too determined. She even threw a Shine spell at me! I thought about returning to tell you, but decided it would be better if I just made sure she made it safely home. You're not mad, are you?"

"Of course I'm not mad. I'm just glad you're safe. We had a little bit of a scare, dealings with an archer." He glanced over at L'Arachel. "She threw a spell at you?"

"Yeah, she did!"

"Oh, please," the Rausten princess grinned, "it just bounced off your pegasus anyway! I knew it would! My spells are only for the vile creatures that leak out of Darkling Woods, after all."

Ephraim frowned; "Princess L'Arachel, attacking one of your own comrades is called _friendly fire_. Even if you knew it would bounce off, it's like throwing a rock at someone, knowing it won't kill them but it'll still sting!"

Mansel cleared his throat and then smiled brightly at the twins; "My dear L'Arachel has informed me of everything! We will celebrate with a big feast tomorrow! We would have done so tonight, but it is far too late. I insist that you all stay at least two nights. You may stay as long as you need, of course."

"Two nights is all," Ephraim said firmly. "The people of Renais have waited long enough for my sister and I to finish this campaign and bring back justice and order to Renais. There is much, much to be done to rebuild our shattered country."

Eirika stepped forward and presented the Rausten king with a package; "Here, Your Holiness. As promised, the Sacred Twin relics of Rausten, returned to you intact. Well, gently used."

Mansel accepted the package graciously and passed it off to a bishop standing behind him, with instructions to return the relics to their reliquaries.

While Ephraim worked out the details of their stay with Mansel, Eirika looked over at Seth, and resisted the urge to sigh like a lovestruck teenager.

"Milady, will you come walk with me?" He glanced at her as he handed over Hyperion's reins to a Rausten stable attendant. "I would certainly enjoy your company."

She perked up at the invitation. A chance to walk together, away from prying eyes and ears? It sounded perfect. She guessed he wanted to talk with her in private about something, most likely their newly changed relationship to each other. "I would be delighted to, Seth. Let's go."

He offered his arm to her in a chivalrous and proper manner, which she accepted as calmly as she could.

The evening breeze felt good, and it was pleasant to be able to walk with the man she loved like this, even if something felt slightly amiss. He seemed calm enough and for a moment she had almost convinced herself that he merely wanted her company, that he had no other motives.

Then he stopped and glanced back to ascertain that no one was in sight or earshot. "My princess," he said, uncomfortably, "we must proceed with caution now."

"Hm?" She blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Regardless of whether or not you can treat me as just another of your subjects, at present, I am nothing more than a ranking knight in your employ. We must be very discreet and very careful. If you show too much favoritism toward me, other subjects of yours will come to resent us both. It will undermine my authority... and yours."

She looked down; "I was afraid you'd bring that up again. Is this really that important to you? Is it really that hard for you to accept that I love you?"

His eyes narrowed a moment, but not in anger; "You appear to be misunderstanding me, Princess. I am not saying that we cannot be together, though part of me believes I should say so. I cannot let go of these affections, and I have no desire to try to, even if the knight in me says I should."

She looked up again, confused. "Then what are you saying?"

"I am saying that we need to be careful how we act around others. In private... well, that is another matter entirely, though we must still be careful not to fuel any unflattering rumors."

"I really don't care what the other nobles think of me, Seth. I just got done saving all of Magvel by defeating and killing one of my dearest friends. If they wish to judge me because I've fallen in love with one of my own knights, they can just..." She trembled a little in anger. "They can just move to Frelia or Grado, or better yet, to Carcino, for all I care."

His eyes saddened; "Princess, it is not that easy. You perhaps forget that I am but a common-born soldier. Yes, I am the leader of the Knights of Renais, and yes my father was a knight before me, and his father before him, but that does not change the fact that I am a commoner, and you are the crown princess. The very nobles that you disdain so are also the backbone of our nation."

She leaned against him, resting her forehead against his shoulder; "Seth, I love you. I don't care about your past, that you were born a 'commoner.' You're not a commoner to me. This feeling has been growing inside me for a long time, I know it has. I don't want to have to deny it. Nor do I really want to hear you tell me that you're not supposed to love me."

To her mild surprise, his arms encircled her gently and held her close; "I'm not asking you to do that, nor am I saying any of that. I think you are determined to misunderstand me, Princess." He brought a hand up to her face, drawing her head up to look at him. "While it is true that a knight should not fall in love with the princess he is sworn to protect, I cannot dictate what my heart feels. And I can see that my telling you how I feel has made you happy. You have been almost floating all day, except for that skirmish a short while ago."

"I don't think I'm following what you're saying..."

Their faces were so close to each other that she felt the warmth of his breath when he sighed; "I'm saying that we must be discreet about our love, my princess, not that we must deny it. I have political enemies, and until we can figure out a way around this -- or a way to make this acceptable to them -- we should not give them any more reason to hate me and try to undermine either of us." He gently bumped his forehead against hers in an affectionate manner. "It may not matter to you what my origins are, but I guarantee you, there are nobles who _do_ care. And they will go to great lengths to make trouble if they are sufficiently upset."

She sighed as well, twining her arms about his torso and leaning against him; "I don't understand how anyone can hate you, Seth." She was relieved at the clarification, though it still left a cold knot in her gut.

"They see me as a threat. It is rooted in something that happened a long time ago. You probably don't remember when I received my title and paladin's commission. You were very young."

She blinked, a bit startled at the sudden reminder that he was a good ten years older than her. "I'm sorry. No, I don't remember. Was I even there?"

"Yes, you and your brother were there. It was a big deal, after all." He chuckled. "I was the youngest cavalier in history to be knighted as a paladin, after all. I'm not sure, maybe I should be offended that you don't even know this much, Princess!"

"Sorry," she snapped, a bit more peevishly than she meant, "I was too busy being schooled about all of Magvel and the five Sacred Stone nations. Ephraim didn't even bother to learn most of _that!_ In any case, military strategy was never my forte anyway."

He didn't seem offended at her tone. "Mm, well, suffice to say, many people felt I was too young to be made a full paladin. These same people had opposed my being knighted as a cavalier a few years before and for the same reason. To be honest, it might have even influenced their protests at my promotion to Knight General in later years."

"I don't understand; no one had any problems with Franz being knighted as a cavalier, and his origins aren't really any different from yours. And he's pretty young. I don't know any Renais knight who comes from noble blood, now that I think of it. Is it because of Forde that everyone had higher expectations of Franz and therefore didn't complain when he exceeded them?"

"With all due respect, Princess Eirika, Franz is seventeen. I was fourteen when I became a cavalier, and sixteen when I became a paladin. There is quite a difference between those ages. My background had little to do with their protests; they were upset at my age. They thought I was too young, and therefore too much of an upstart."

"Your political enemies have held this against you all this time, Seth? For fifteen years, they've hated you just because you were 'too young' to be promoted?"

"That, I believe, sums it up, yes."

"Wow," she shook her head, "that doesn't make any sense... but I know you are speaking the truth. I only wish I could understand."

"Now do you understand my concerns, milady? I am not about to give you up now, but we cannot be foolish about this."

"Yes, and I'm sorry for being so obtuse. I was just afraid that you were panicking and were going to try and back away from me." Her arms squeezed a little, as if clinging to him. "Now that I have found out how happy it makes me to love you and be loved by you, I don't want to let go of that, ever."

"I have no intentions whatsoever of doing any of that, Princess Eirika. When I told you that I love you, I meant it. It was a decision that I have not taken lightly. I did spend pretty much all of last night mulling over everything, after all."

She let out contented sigh; "I'm sorry. I don't even know what exactly I'm apologizing for, but... Seth, I love you."

"Mm, and I love you, my dear princess," he said softly, tilting her face up, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers.

Considering it was their first kiss, it was surprisingly underwhelming. No lightning struck her dumb, no fireworks in her mind, no warm jelly-like weakness in her knees. It was nothing like the song ballads said your first kiss with your true love was supposed to be like. All the same, it made her indescribably happy; her eyes stung with tears that caught her by surprise.

Any further interaction was interrupted by a change in lighting; the torches around the palace walls were being lit as the sun descended, and the combination of firelight and twilight sent shadows dancing askew.

"We should head back," Seth said finally. "They will be wondering. And it is getting dark. Shall we?"

She nodded in response and stepped back, sighing in both resignation and ennui. It wasn't until now, with the light from the torches falling unsteadily across the ground, that she noticed just how utterly exhausted the paladin looked.

"Seth, you really should have gotten some sleep last night. You don't do very well on no sleep, do you?"

He chuckled tiredly; "I should take offense to that, milady. My reflexes are hard-wired. I might be a bit foggy in tactics, but I've been a paladin long enough to know what I'm doing and to do it without thinking. That, to some degree, is why I reacted the way I did to that archer. If I had been thinking clearly, I wouldn't have dragged Amelia and Franz into the fray, knowing how tight the quarters would be in a thicket grove."

They reached the spot where the company had broken apart for the night, with the convoy wagons being lined up neatly and guards being posted around them. Ephraim and the other Renais knights were still nearby, loitering, probably waiting on the two of them.

"How long will we have to play this charade of being indifferent to each other?" She asked quietly.

"Until we can find a way to make it acceptable," he replied.

"Surely Forde and Kyle won't have a problem with this, and I can guarantee you that Franz won't. And we've already seen that my brother approves."

"My fellow knights are the least of my worries, Princess. They know me well enough to know that I have not changed."

She sighed softly; "I wish you wouldn't call me 'Princess' quite so much, Seth. It redraws that invisible dividing line between us."

"My apologies, my lady. It is a habit that will be hard to break."

As they arrived where the others were gathered, Ephraim turned to them; "Seth, I had no idea you had already spoken to Amelia about officially joining the ranks of our Knights. Why didn't you just offer her a commission right then and there? You have that authority, you know."

"I wanted to wait and speak with you first, my prince."

"I was prepared to offer her a lucrative commission to keep her, but she wants to join us anyway, commission or not."

"You are going to give her a decent commission, though, right?" Eirika inquired. "I will have to protest if you don't!"

"Of course I am, Eirika, don't be silly. I just... thought I was going to have to justify a more lucrative commission than normal. Imagine trying to explain to the court nobles why I wanted to offer a commission on a par with Seth's to a sixteen-year-old girl from Grado!"

"They protested enough when I was promoted at that age," Seth said with a chuckle. "They would have vapors over that, Prince Ephraim."

"Exactly. Which is why I'm relieved I don't have to do that."

"I am glad you have chosen to offer her a commission. She will be an asset to us."

"Not to be a pain or anything," Forde said petulantly, "but Prince Ephraim, can we _please_ be excused to go find somewhere soft to collapse? I'm about to fall over here."

There was an audible slap as Franz brought his hand to his face in dismay; "Brother, stop it. You're embarrassing me." Kyle groaned in agreement.

Ephraim just laughed and waved his hand at them; "Sure, go ahead. I need to speak with Seth about something but yes, you three may go. I only wanted you to attend to me for the purpose of appearances, you know. You're my most trusted knights, after all. Go on, go on. The less whining we hear from Forde, the better."

"Hard to believe that this guy is among the best of us," Kyle said gruffly, giving Forde a companionable shove toward the Palace. "Lazy as you are, Forde, you ought to be dead a hundred times over."

Ephraim waited until the three knights had left before turning to his sister and the paladin; "So, I presume you had something to work out. Anything I can do to help?"

"Not tonight, my lord," Seth said, stifling a yawn. "I am completely done in for the night." He glanced around to make sure it was just himself and the twins, and put an arm around Eirika; "My princess, we will have to discuss our options tomorrow. I have no energy left to deal with anything tonight." He gave her a soft, chaste peck on the cheek and then saluted Ephraim. "By your leave, Your Highness."

"Rest well, Seth," Ephraim said in acknowledgement of the paladin's request to retire for the night.

He waited until Seth had climbed the stairs and disappeared through the entry into the palace before turning to Eirika; "Mind telling me what that was all about?"

She shifted uncomfortably; "He's concerned about the nobles of Renais having a fit over the fact that he's common-born and I'm royal. He's concerned about them trying to undermine authority."

"Hm," her brother mused on this, "he has a point. A very valid point. Do remember, Eirika, that the reason why Seth was chosen as the leader of the Knights of Renais over older and more experienced paladins like Orson, is because of his prowess in politics. Father felt he could trust Seth to be able to adapt to political situations more so than any other paladin." He grinned mischievously at her. "Isn't it sad that I know this and you don't?"

"You only know it because Seth himself told you!" She retorted, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "You forget that I was there when he said so. You never listened to what Father was saying when he was trying to tell you about how to rule Renais, so don't give me that hogwash, Brother!"

Ephraim laughed and gave her shoulder an affectionate nudge; "Cover blown, dear sister. All the same, we shouldn't disregard what he has to say, because he's been doing this a lot longer than either of us."

She nodded in agreement; "I know that. I wasn't disregarding anything he's said. I just... wish it weren't a problem. I love him. I don't want to have to pretend that I don't."

Ephraim patted her shoulder sympathetically, before giving her a brief hug. "I'm sure we can work this out. You and I both owe that man more than he will ever let us repay him. I'll think of something, so let's discuss this tomorrow." He stifled a yawn. "Meanwhile, I think I will find a bed to fall into. Good night, Eirika. I hope you sleep well."


	4. Chapter 4

As he'd done the night before, Seth didn't go straight to bed at all. However, this time he wasn't going to stay up for long. Instead, he stopped by the room assigned to the pegasus knights, because that was where Amelia was bunking for now. He wanted to check on her just because it was his duty as commanding officer to make sure all his knights were in good shape and spirits. He wasn't used to commanding a female knight, as they were rare in Renais, so he hoped that he wouldn't be too poorly received for his efforts.

He knocked tentatively on the door, and heard a grumble from the other side; "What, again? It's getting late. Who do you suppose it is this time?"

"Shush, Vanessa. I'll answer it." After a moment, the door unlatched and opened partially to reveal Syrene. "Why, General Seth! This is a surprise! What can I do for you?"

"I won't keep you, Dame Syrene," he said formally. "I'm only here to check on Amelia, to make sure she has settled in well. She's part of my responsibility now, after all."

"Well, General, she's asleep right now. Quite soundly asleep."

"Very good. That's all I needed. Good night. Give my regards to the other ladies."

"General, wait," Syrene said as he started to turn away. "A moment of your time, please?"

"Yes?"

She stepped out and shut the door behind her. "Something weird is going on. I've seen both Princess Tana and Princess Eirika acting as though their heads are in the clouds today, and Amelia was grinning like a fool and wouldn't say why. The war with Fomortiis might be over now, but that doesn't mean we can all be careless."

"I cannot speak for either princess, but I imagine Amelia's good mood is because Prince Ephraim has offered her a commission amongst the Knights of Renais and will swear her in as soon as we get home. She has been hoping for this, so this is probably something of a dream come true for her."

"Ah!" The FalcoKnight's eyes lit up. "That makes sense! Perhaps she was simply too tired to properly explain the situation. I will see if I can't get Princess Tana to confide in me, and perhaps you should inform Prince Ephraim about Princess Eirika? That is, of course, if you and he are not already aware of Princess Eirika's bizarre behavior."

"Well, Princess Eirika is still somewhat traumatized by what happened to Prince Lyon, so I am simply doing my best to protect her without interfering with her coping, Dame Syrene."

"I see. I suppose I'm not surprised. Still, as long as you and Prince Ephraim are aware of it, I don't need to worry about Princess Eirika. I'll focus on Princess Tana, and see what I can do to help her. Thank you, General. And, if I may suggest, you should find a bed soon. You look incredibly close to collapsing." She gave him a respectful salute.

He chuckled tiredly as he returned the salute; "That is my next objective, Dame Syrene. I simply wanted to fulfill my duties as commanding officer and see to it that Amelia was settled. Thank you for your concern. Good night."

She returned to the room and shut the door between them, and he turned on his heel, heading to a room nearby that had been designated for the Knights of Renais. Despite Pontifex Mansel's chancellor's most insistent pleas, Seth had refused any private accommodations. He believed that he was no better a soldier than his men, and preferred to bunk with them when he could because it helped morale. Not to mention, his fellow knights were his friends, and he had lost so many friends in the fall of Castle Renais that he cherished the friends that still survived.

As he stepped into the room with the other knights, he sighed with relief that the day was finally over, unclipping the clasps on his armor and beginning to shed the steel shell.

"So you _are_ joining us, eh, General? I know they wanted to put you up in special accommodations. Some of the Rausten knights seem to idolize you. You are making far too big of a name for yourself, Sir Silver Knight!"

"What are you doing still awake, Forde? You were the one I'd figure to be out first. You certainly complained enough about being tired!"

"Couldn't sleep. Kyle's snoring has kept me awake."

" _My_ snoring? I don't snore, at least not that loudly!" Kyle retorted sleepily from where he was curled up in a bunk. "Bet you it was Franz."

Franz's annoyed voice floated up from where he was laying; "Don't pin that one on me, Kyle! You snore worse than my brother!"

"That snoring I hear isn't from any of you, clearly," Seth said with a chuckle. "You're all awake, and it's coming through the walls anyway. Sounds like it might be Gilliam, or perhaps Garcia."

"If we weren't in Rausten Palace itself, I'd think that was the window-rattler himself, that crazy berserker. Dozla, I think his name is?" Forde yawned. "Either way, I can't sleep tonight, though I dearly would like to. However, General, I do have a question, and you'll have to forgive me for being so nosy, but you've been talking privately with Princess Eirika a lot the past two days. Is something the matter?"

"Forde!" Kyle sat upright in the bed. "You don't have the right to ask a question like that, you know!"

"I'm not asking it as a knight. I'm asking it as a friend," Forde said. "And General Seth is free to tell me to shove it, you know. I won't bother him if he doesn't want to talk about it! So just chill out, Kyle, before you cause yourself a hernia!"

"I've... kind of wondered that myself," Franz said, a bit timidly. "The way you and Princess Eirika have been interacting has been really confusing. Last night she seemed really angry with you, and now... you're almost inseparable."

Seth let out a sigh as he set down his armor into a neat collection by the door; "I need to talk with you three about this anyway, so now is as good a time as any."

"Uh oh," Forde said under his breath. "Sounds serious."

"It is serious."

"Well, that makes sense, I suppose. If there's anyone more serious than Kyle, it's you, General. What's the problem?"

Seth closed his eyes as he sank onto an unoccupied bed. He felt his strength draining from him in exhaustion. But he needed to make sure he had his knights' support. He absolutely had to do this, and now.

"General?" Franz sounded concerned.

"I need your unwavering support, all of you. Things are likely to get very trying."

"Is there any reason why you think we wouldn't support you, General?"

"Well," he rubbed his hands over his face, "my role may very well be changing somewhat."

"You're not retiring, are you?"

"No, no. Of course not. How old do you think I am?"

"You're dodging the issue, General," Kyle said. "What's going on?"

Seth heaved a sigh; "It seems that Princess Eirika and I have... well, fallen in love."

"Oh!" Franz sounded a bit startled.

"Oh, is it mutual then?" Forde inquired all too innocently. "That's a bit of a surprise, I suppose."

Seth turned to the blond knight, eyes wide in shock; "Have I been that transparent?"

"Eh? You? No, not really. But Princess Eirika's infatuation has been pretty obvious to me. She watches you when she thinks no one else is looking. I wasn't aware that you felt the same though."

Seth let out a self-conscious chuckle; "It is... complicated, to say the least."

"General Seth, does this mean you'll be forced to give up command of us?" Franz sounded worried. "Because, frankly, I can't think of a better General for us."

"That is why I need your steadfast support. So long as I have your support -- all of you -- I don't believe anyone can force me to step down. I worked very hard to earn this title, and I intend to keep it as long as I am physically able to perform the duties associated with it."

"So..." Kyle said with a bit of a drawl, "does Prince Ephraim know about this? I know how protective he is of Princess Eirika, and being that I myself have a sister, I can see where he might be a bit unreasonable..."

"I assure you that he approves. After all, Prince Ephraim all but shoved me into her arms," Seth said, stifling a yawn. "And I wouldn't be surprised if he's not done with his machinations, either."

"Meaning?"

"Enough questions," the paladin said, a trifle crossly, uncomfortable with this talk about something so private. "I'm exhausted and I haven't slept properly in days." He shucked his boots and reclined on the bunk, not even bothering to get undressed. He was far too tired.

The last thing he heard before sleep claimed him was an exchange that might have annoyed him if he'd had the energy to get annoyed. He was too tired to react to it, and gradually tuned it out.

"General Seth isn't much older than you, is he, Brother?"

"Naah, about ten, fifteen years."

"Brother! He's not that old!"

Kyle, as per usual, mediated. "Relax, Franz, you know how this moron is." A thump and a swat, followed by an inarticulate protest from Forde. "I think the General is only thirty or so. He's far too young to retire, barring crippling injury, if that's your concern. And, Forde, if you think age is an issue, I dare you to bring that up to General Duessel! Good night, both of you."

* * *

It was the best night's sleep any of them had had in a while. With no pressing reason to get up before being fully rested, most of the company stayed abed until late morning. The sun was already high in the sky, climbing toward noon, when Eirika managed to get out into the courtyard where the rest of the company had begun to gather. She was treated to a rare sight: Kyle and Forde were apparently sparring with Seth. And it was clear that even now the red-haired paladin still outclassed both of them. Even though Kyle had wisely chosen a lance to oppose Seth with, even with the advantage of lance over sword, he still couldn't get the upper hand.

"You're tricky, General!" Kyle said with a grin. "You don't even need a lancereaver, do you?"

"Not true at all and you know it, Kyle. I just know your fighting style and can avoid your moves. Now come on, both of you, put some effort into this! You're letting me get the upper hand too easily!"

"You're making the Knights of Renais look like a bunch of pansies!" Ephraim called over from the sidelines. "Forde, stop lazing around. I know you're better than that!"

"I'm not lazing around, I'm looking for an opening. Why don't _you_ come over and spar with the General, Prince Ephraim?! He's a difficult opponent!"

"I just got done sparring with Duessel; I think the two of you can handle General Seth without my help!"

"That's not what I--" Forde protested, before Seth swatted him upside the head with the flat of his blade.

"Pay attention, Forde!" The General snapped. "I'm tempted to get serious on you. I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't put some effort into this, I may have to just to prove a point!"

Out of sheer irritation, Kyle spun his lance around and whacked Forde in the head with the butt of the lance's shaft. "You embarrass me, Forde."

"Fine," the blond knight said, rubbing his head and glaring at his fellow knights. "You really want me to get serious? Fine, I'll show you serious!" He slashed his sword down into position and squared up, facing Seth. "Prepare yourself, General Seth. It's on now."

What followed that challenge was a rare display of what Forde could really do when he dropped the idiot act, and further proved why his eccentricities were tolerated by Ephraim and Seth: he was simply breathtaking with a sword, his skill and speed clearly something to be respected, even feared. His martial skills were top notch. When Forde chose to be serious, he could be devastatingly good with a weapon.

For his part, Seth responded in kind, making for a fantastic display of swordplay. Though it was nothing like when Joshua and Marisa sparred -- two swordmasters sparring was truly a sight to behold -- it was still breathtaking in its own right.

Finally, Seth raised his arm to call a halt; "Enough. That's enough, Forde. My arm is tired now. That was nicely done."

Forde gave the General a slightly sarcastic salute; "You wanted me to get serious, so I did."

"I did, thank you. It's a pity you're so lazy; you'd go a lot further if you had some ambition."

Ephraim approached and clamped a hand on Seth's shoulder; "Seth, I need to speak with you about something. Come along."

"As you will, my prince." The paladin sheathed his sword and set it against the nearby rack, and followed after his liege.

Eirika just watched the two of them as they approached, and only reacted when Ephraim reached out and grabbed onto her arm. "C'mon, Eirika, this applies to you."

"Ephr--Brother, stop that!" She squawked in surprise. "That hurts!"

"This applies to you, Eirika, so you're coming too. I think you'll want to be in on this anyway."

"I understand, Brother, but don't yank on my arm like that!" She followed the two of them into a corridor where they had some privacy.

"What's the matter, Prince Ephraim?" Seth inquired.

"I think I have a solution to your dilemma, if I'm understanding Eirika properly. You're concerned about the other Renais nobles disapproving of your relationship, right?"

The paladin exchanged a brief glance with the princess, and cleared his throat; "Er, well, yes. Except that I'm not _concerned_ , so much as I know they will more than just disapprove. They will make trouble if they are sufficiently upset. The last thing we need is our collective authority undermined by discontent nobles."

"Well, hear me out," Ephraim said, "because I think I have a suitable answer, but it relies heavily on how devoted you are to each other."

Eirika blinked; "What do you mean?"

"Are you willing to marry?" Ephraim didn't even bother with beating around the bush.

Seth blanched; "I... what?"

Eirika blushed; "Brother!"

"I'm serious. If you're both willing to marry, I can offer you my sister's hand in marriage as reward for your heroics in the war, Seth. There is a precedent for that, I'm certain of it. And since my sister won't ever be the Queen of Renais so long as I'm around, it's not like succession should be an issue. We've already discussed my ideas for an alliance with Frelia, and Prince Joshua of Jehanna already has a bride lined up, so there's no one in another country to form an alliance marriage with. And Eirika and I are both in agreement that without you, we would never have gotten this far. It's likely that neither of us would even be alive if not for you."

"You insist on giving me far too much credit, my prince," the paladin said unhappily. "If I were so valorous and heroic, we would not be in this position of succession in the first place. I failed to save your honored father, after all. It was all I could do to protect Princess Eirika."

"He _ordered_ you to flee," Eirika retorted. "I didn't want to leave, but you took him at his word and did precisely as he ordered you. You were obeying your orders. You shouldn't hold our father's death over your own heart!"

"Father would not have thanked you if you had saved him after he ordered you to save Eirika," Ephraim said. "He would have been furious with you. You know this, too. Why do you hate yourself for doing as you are sworn to do, which is obey your sovereign liege?"

"I don't hate myself for it, but I don't believe I deserve any praise for it either. I was _doing my job_ , Prince Ephraim. Nothing more. I hated doing it, but I did it."

Ephraim shook his head; "Seth, it doesn't matter why you did it. The fact of the matter remains, had you not risked life and limb to protect Eirika, neither of us would be here today. And that is what I wish to reward. Besides, you want to be with my sister, don't you?"

The paladin looked very unhappy; "That is not a very fair way of saying it, Prince Ephraim, as you are basically backing me into a proverbial corner, but yes, I do."

"Do you find the idea of marrying her unpleasant?"

"You ask me this in front of her?" Seth retorted, momentarily forgetting himself. "No, Your Highness, I do not find it unpleasant at all, but I do not anticipate that it will be well received if it should happen. And frankly, you sound as though you are not taking her feelings into consideration here, by taking it upon yourself to offer her hand in marriage for her."

Ephraim turned to Eirika, who was still trying to parse what had just happened. "Eirika, do you oppose my idea?"

"Er, no, I'm just... confused..." She ran her hands over her face. "And you're clearly upsetting Seth, Brother, so maybe you should, er, leave? Maybe Seth and I should talk about this just between the two of us?"

"Fine," Ephraim said, apparently not in the least bit put out by her telling him to scram. "I just wanted to make sure that you know that this option is available to you both. I'll _make_ it be available. You deserve happiness, both of you, and I will do what I can to secure that happiness. Let me know what your answer is." He turned on his heel and departed their company, giving both of them the distinct impression that he'd planned for this all along.

"He frightens me sometimes," Seth murmured. "Just when you think he is oblivious to something, he proves to be more in tune to it than you'd ever imagine. No wonder he and Forde have always gotten along so well. They are much the same in many, many ways."

"He mentioned his plans for an alliance with Frelia. Seth, do you know something about that?" A moment later; "You do, don't you? I can see it in your face. What is it?"

The paladin looked uncomfortable; "I cannot say anything, my princess. Prince Ephraim has forbidden me from speaking of the matter with _anyone_. You will have to forgive me but I must remain silent on the matter."

She sighed; "All right, I understand. I'm sorry. I just don't like being kept out of the loop."

"I promise you, you will find out soon enough."

She leaned close to him, sidling up against him. "For what it's worth, Seth, I wasn't aware that he was going to do this, but I do rather like his idea." She was a little concerned that he might be so spooked by Ephraim's bombshell of a proposition that he would be in no mood for affection.

Her fears were allayed adroitly when he put his arms around her and pulled her close, pressing a kiss into her hair; "If, and only if, this is what you truly want, my princess, then I will accept his offer. But this has to be your desire, because I do not want you to feel as though you have no other choice. I'm sure there are other ways to make our love acceptable than this, in some manner."

"Does the idea of getting married not appeal to you?"

"I..." He fell silent a moment. "I would be lying if I said that the idea had never crossed my mind, but I have never seriously entertained thoughts of marriage. Frankly, I have long been of the opinion that a Knight of Renais has no business being married. We saw what happened to Orson, after all."

"Seth," she said with a weak smile, "it wasn't the fact that Orson was married that caused him to lose his mind. It was the profound loss he felt when she died that broke his spirit. Even if he hadn't been married to her, I think he was still weak enough at heart that her death would have affected him similarly. Marriage is not an evil thing, after all."

He didn't respond to that, though the troubled expression on his face told her more than enough: he was still haunted by Orson's treachery. She knew that he had taken it quite personal when they found out about Orson's betrayal of Renais, but it was clear that the whole mess still deeply affected him in ways he hadn't really had a chance to come to terms with.

She reached up and touched his face with her hands; "Seth, if you don't want to marry, that's fine. But... I would like to. I have no doubts about it. I do love you so much. I wonder if you are having a hard time understanding that I love you?"

"Perhaps I am," he said finally. "I am still getting used to be able to admit that I love you, after all. I have been in denial for so long, it seems, that no longer denying it has caused me to question things I would not normally doubt. Do understand, milady, that I do not doubt your feelings... but it is not easy to accept something I have been denying for a while like this. The prospect of all of this as a reward for what I feel should not be rewarded at all, also bothers me."

"You do realize, don't you, that Ephraim is only using the whole 'reward' thing as an excuse for anyone who has a fit over the fact that you are common-born, right? He doesn't really mean that he wants to reward you for something you find unpleasant, but if it helps the dissenting nobles to accept this, he's willing to use it."

"I do understand that, at least partly, but..." He shifted awkwardly. "This is all very complicated and I don't know what to think, to be perfectly honest."

"I want to make it clear," she said gently, "that I would like to marry. But if you are uncomfortable with the idea, I won't pressure you."

"I will repeat what I said moments ago," he said with a ghost of a smile. "If this is what you truly want, then I will accept his offer." Then his expression darkened slightly. "However... if it requires me to resign my post as Knight General.... I am not sure I can do that just yet. I worked very long and very hard to reach this position and I don't think any of my knights are ready to succeed me."

"I wouldn't want you to resign," she said. "You are needed by all of Renais. I'm sure Ephraim can work something out." Then she grinned. "Should I be offended that your job means more to you than I do?"

"I did not say that, milady!" He protested, earning a genuine laugh from her. "I mean that it is a decision I cannot take so lightly if I must resign! I am responsible for all the knights, you know!"

"I know, I know -- I was teasing!" She laughed merrily and hugged him. "Oh, Seth, you do make me so happy. Never, ever doubt that I am happy when I am with you!"

His response was to pull her face upward and kiss her firmly; "I may not seem it, because of how confused this has left me, but I am likewise quite happy with you, my dear princess." She was delighted to see that he was beginning to accept and respond to her affections. "And if marrying will make you happier, I will do it without hesitation."

"I really wish you wouldn't treat something so personal and private like this as just another part of your duty, Seth," she sighed. "I'd rather you wanted this too."

"I don't really know what I want, milady, except for you to be happy. My entire life up until now has been defined by your family's needs. It is quite hard to know and decide what it is that I want. You will have to forgive me, my princess, for some of my long-term habits of deferring to you will be very hard to break."

She rested her head against his shoulder. "So what answer are we going to give Ephraim?"

"Do I need to say it a third time?" He smirked.

"Only if you make _me_ say it yet again that this is indeed what I truly want."

"Then you have our answer to Prince Ephraim. Shall we go tell him?"

"Mm," she looked up at him, her heart overflowing with affection, "in a moment, yes. But first, I would like to take advantage of this time alone."

He chuckled but resisted her attempts; "We may be 'alone' in terms of no one visible near us, milady, but it would be a serious mistake to assume we are truly alone here, in a foreign palace. Perhaps we should save any intimacy for when we can be certain we are alone. It would not do at all for our reputations to be tarnished before our betrothal is finalized. I trust you can control yourself long enough for that, my dear princess?"

She pouted; "You're no fun sometimes, Seth!"

He smiled at that; "Well, one of us has to watch out for our reputations!" He shifted a bit, stepping away and offering his arm to her. "Why don't we go inform Prince Ephraim of our answer? And, perhaps, if it bothers you to not know what his plans with Frelia are, you can ask him yourself."

She looked up at him with a tiny bit of pleading; "At least one more kiss?"

"Oh, very well." He made a good-natured show of heaving a sigh and pulled her close, giving her the kiss she was begging for. For a few moments, the two of them abandoned all reality and absorbed themselves in each other. Then, a sound down the hallway interrupted the moment and both of them reluctantly turned to their obligations.

Ephraim was waiting for them by the palace doors, and his smile grew when he saw them approaching arm-in-arm like they were.

"So... do you have an answer for me?"

"Before I answer you, my prince," Seth said guardedly, "I must ask: will I be expected to resign my post?"

Ephraim blinked, genuinely taken aback; "Why would you be?"

"Because marrying royalty would effectively promote me to nobility, would it not?"

"Er, I suppose you're right. However, if you don't want to resign your post, I certainly won't force you to. In fact, I'd be quite displeased if you did resign. I need you probably more than my father did, you know. And I highly, highly doubt that you being married to my sister would cause Franz, Forde, Kyle or Amelia to question your ability to command them."

"Very well, then. If I am able to retain my post as Knight General, then there is nothing else to consider. Prince Ephraim, I will accept your offer."

"Excellent!" Ephraim slung an arm across Seth's shoulders in a companionable gesture. "Once Renais is completely restored, you'll be stationed largely at Castle Renais anyway. Until then, you'll have to do your share of patrols. I won't be able to afford for you two to take much of a honeymoon."

"Understood, my prince."

"Eirika, you are in agreement with this, I presume? You look like you're walking on air, after all."

She grinned at her brother; "I am quite content with the situation, Brother, but I would like to know what your plans for an alliance with Frelia are."

Ephraim's grin vanished, and he looked sharply at Seth, who held his hands up in yielding fashion.

"Don't look at Seth like that! You said it right in front of me, Brother. You said that the two of you had discussed your plans for an alliance with Frelia. I want to know what your plans are."

Ephraim coughed, and then cleared his throat; "Fine. Looks like I fouled that one up. That, and you, my dear sister, can read me like a child's book. Fine, fine." He glanced around to make sure that no one was nearby, and lowered his voice. "I have not spoken with Innes yet, so I don't want this getting out, because I have a feeling he will completely over react. I want to speak with King Hayden about this, but I think my first priority should be stabilizing Renais, getting the bandit situation under control and reestablishing law and order, before going into negotiations over an alliance. But my idea is to secure our alliance with Frelia by Tana becoming my bride."

Eirika blinked. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Er," she shifted a little, "Brother, you're not... do you love her, or is she just a political pawn?"

Ephraim looked annoyed; "Are you joking, Eirika? Of course she's not just a pawn. I do love her, even if I have always had a poor way of showing it. You of all people ought to know that I'm no good at expressing things like love. Yes, I _want_ to marry her. She makes me smile, and she helped me come to terms with what we had to do about Lyon, you know. She is remarkably supportive; I feel like I can do anything when she's nearby. And it would be a very powerful political alliance as well. A win-win situation, I suppose. My only real concern is... well, I feel hypocritical. I don't want to surrender you in any alliance marriage, and yet I feel like I'm trying to force Innes to do precisely what I am unwilling to do."

Seth's expression darkened slightly, but only momentarily. "My prince, I do have a question: does Princess Tana know about your plans?"

"Yes, of course she does. I wanted to make sure I had her consent before I even considered approaching King Hayden about this. I did ask her to keep silent about it. I hope she has been. Why do you ask? You seem to have some concerns."

"It's nothing particular. I only ask because Dame Syrene mentioned that Princess Tana was acting as though her head was in the clouds."

Ephraim chuckled; "Tana isn't very good at acting. I hope Innes hasn't figured it out or pried it out of her. I've told her that I need to do this myself. I need to be able to negotiate my own marriage, especially with our dear ally Frelia, or else how can I expect my people to trust me to guide them? And I would rather have a chance to discuss this with King Hayden _before_ dealing with Innes, because Innes is not exactly cool-headed and rational where his sister is concerned."

"Or where you're concerned either," Eirika added. "I can see why you'd be concerned. However, if you want, I can talk with Innes. I think he'll listen to me where he won't listen to you."

Ephraim shook his head; "This is my alliance to negotiate, Eirika. I need to be able to do it myself. I just don't want to do it without first consulting King Hayden about this."


	5. Chapter 5

As Eirika, Seth and Ephraim emerged from Rausten Palace back into the courtyard, they were greeted to a sight of their knights gathered in the courtyard with the Frelian pegasus knights, apparently comparing javelin throws. From the looks of it, Amelia had shown everyone up again.

"If I didn't know better," Kyle said with a shake of his head, "I'd think you were destined to be a pegasus knight, Amelia. Your javelin skills really amaze me."

The young paladin glowed with pride at the praise. "Thank you very much, Sir Kyle! But I don't like heights, and I prefer to be able to take an arrow shot or two."

Cormag, lounging nearby, grunted; "Oh god, arrows. Dunno about those pegasus units, but archers sure scare Genarog. He doesn't even like our archers all that well. I think he wanted to chew off Prince Innes' face."

"And I've never been anything other than courteous with that scale-faced creature," Innes grumbled.

"Genarog is smart, your highness. He's seen your silver bow; he knows you're an archer. That's all he needs or cares to know." Cormag grinned lazily. He was surprisingly laid-back and gentle, considering how fired up and furious he'd been they had first encountered him, grieving for a murdered brother he'd been led to believe had died by Eirika's hand. He still sometimes was very quiet, lost in thought, and standoffish, but he had meshed well with the company and was generally willing to work with just about anyone.

"You guys were having a javelin contest without me? Shame on you!" Ephraim laughed. "I can always use a chance to polish up my javelin-throwing skills!"

"Don't be mad," Duessel said from where he sat nearby, conversing with a few other knights, some of them Rausten knights. "Princess Tana challenged Dame Amelia to a javelin contest, and a couple of your knights decided to get in on the action, and next thing we know, it's Frelia versus Renais."

"Would've been better if they hadn't tried to drag me into it," Gilliam grumbled. "I don't do well with javelins. Heavy armor isn't suited for throwing javelins!"

Ephraim was clearly in a very good mood, as he dragged his sister and highest ranking knight along with him over to where Father Moulder, the bishop from Frelia, was sitting with a few of Rausten's bishops.

"Father Moulder," he said by way of greeting.

"Good morning, Prince Ephraim. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"Well, I'm certainly interested."

"I know you're going back to Frelia to advise King Hayden, but could I impose upon you, before you do so, to stay in Renais for a little while and help plan -- and then perform -- a wedding ceremony?"

The priest brightened. "Are you planning to marry, Prince Ephraim? Congratulations! I had no idea!"

"Not me," Ephraim said quickly. "My sister."

"Oh," Moulder turned his gaze to Eirika, "Princess, I didn't realize you were planning to marry! My congratulations!"

Eirika acknowledged the compliment as graciously as she could; "I wasn't originally planning to so soon; Brother talked me into it. I think he wants me married off safely before he is crowned as the king!"

"Can you blame me?" Ephraim grinned. "Even if that's not necessarily the case, mind you!"

"Who's the lucky man?" Moulder inquired, his eyes alight with interest.

"First answer my question," the prince of Renais said.

"Well, I would need to ask King Hayden for leave to do so, and I have other couples clamoring for my nuptial services, but I'm sure I can find time to help you out, your highness. Now don't keep me waiting! Who's the lucky man selected by Renais's illustrious and beautiful princess?"

Seth shifted, a trifle uncomfortably, not used to being the focus of this kind of attention; "That would be me, Father Moulder. Though, I wonder if 'lucky' can even begin to describe it."

Moulder's eyes twinkled with delight; "That is the best news I've heard all day!"

"Ahem, General," a voice said from behind them; it was Cormag. "Is your lance arm still tired, General Seth? If not, I'd like to have a spar with you. I owe you a thrashing, after all, don't I?"

Seth chuckled; "You keep coming back for more, hmm?"

The blond Grado soldier grinned; "I want to be able to boast that I bested the Silver Knight in a sparring match. Can you blame me?"

"Not in the least." He glanced at the twins. "By your leave, Prince Ephraim?"

"Sure," Ephraim nodded, "though I'm a bit put out that no one else will challenge _me_ to a spar!"

Cormag laughed; "We all saw you best General Duessel, your highness. I may be dumb to the point of masochistic, but I'm not a complete moron!"

"Yet you willingly challenge my best knight!"

"To be fair," Duessel said from where he was sitting nearby, "the lance is probably my weakest weapon. And I am getting old, you know. A little stiff in the joints today."

Cormag scoffed; "My brother could never truly beat you, General."

"Oh please! Glen always challenged my axe, not lance! He _wanted_ the disadvantage!"

Cormag shrugged; "Doesn't matter to me, you know, Obsidian." His eyes shifted over to Ephraim; "If I can best the Silver Knight, I might consider challenging you, Prince Ephraim, but until then, you'll have to forgive me."

The two moved off to the center of the courtyard, where they squared off with their steel lances.

"Such a pity for Cormag," Ephraim said with a lazy grin. "Seth's in a really good mood today; even _I_ have trouble besting him when he's in that good of a mood."

Sure enough, despite all of Cormag's best gambits, Seth dodged each and every one and eventually disarmed the wyvern lord.

"Enough," Cormag said with a grin. "I yield. Dammit. I'm going to best you someday, Silver Knight! Legitimately, anyway. No fair letting me win, either."

"I would never let you win just to bolster your ego," Seth replied. "That is dishonorable, after all."

"Honor? Pfft, your pride, more likely."

"Mine alone? Hardly."

"Good point. Ah, well, thank you for the exercise, General. I'll polish my work and try again in a couple of days. I trust we won't be in Grado territory for another two weeks or more. I hope I can manage to best you at least once before we have to part ways!"

The two lancemen saluted each other and parted ways in the courtyard. Seth returned to Eirika and Ephraim, and Cormag bowed out, presumably to go check on his wyvern.

"I hope you do not wish to test me now too, my prince," the paladin said as he approached. "It might have looked easy, but it was far from it. I am tired."

Ephraim just grinned; "Naah, I'm not in the mood to spar with anyone right now. Especially when I can see you're in such a good mood."

"Maybe a little later," Eirika said, her eyes bright with hope, "I can spar with you, Seth? You've been begging off every time I tried to spar with you. I could use your help, you know."

Seth let out a semi-frustrated noise; "I've told you before, my princess, that you should leave the fighting to me. You are too important to Renais."

"All the same," she insisted, "I feel better being able to defend myself."

He looked unhappy; "Can I make you a compromise, Princess? When we get home to Renais, and have some free time, I can instruct you however you'd like me to in swordplay. I am just not comfortable doing so here, in another country."

She pouted a bit; "That sounds like an excuse, but if it's the only way I'll get to spar with you, then fine, I'll take you at your word. And what did I say about using my title so much?"

"What did I tell _you_ , my princess, about how old habits die hard?" He retorted with a smile.

"Wow, you already bicker like an old married couple!" Ephraim laughed. "Practicing already?"

"Brother!" Eirika turned red. "Stop that!"

Franz had approached and was just about to speak to them when he apparently heard what Ephraim had said, and his words died before coming out, leaving him temporarily agape in surprise.

"What is it, Franz?" Seth raised an eyebrow at the pole-axed expression on the young paladin's face.

"General... are you and Princess Eirika getting married?"

It was Seth's turn to be pole-axed; "How in the world did you figure that out?"

"Er, Prince Ephraim just said..."

"No need to be shy, Seth," Ephraim clapped the senior paladin on the shoulder companionably. "Yes, Franz, as a reward for his heroics in this war, and the fact that we couldn't have gotten anywhere without him, I've offered Seth my sister's hand in marriage, with her full consent. I trust you won't have any problems with obeying the orders of your General even if he's married to Princess Eirika?"

"Of course not," Kyle said from behind Franz, approaching as well, with Forde trailing a short distance away. "He'll always be General Seth, the Silver Knight, to us, no matter who he's married to."

"Pity, though," Forde said with a lazy grin, "if I'd known that Princess Eirika's hand in marriage was a prize, perhaps I might have put forth more effort!"

"And pigs will fly too," Ephraim chuckled. "You and 'effort' don't go together very well, Forde."

"Good point. Still, that's a hell of a prize."

Eirika turned redder; "Stop it, all of you! I am not just some prize to be won by valorous deeds!"

"Indeed not," Seth said, his voice cold and severe. "I am willing to accept that you may need to use that as an excuse for the nobles who will no doubt object, but I would greatly appreciate, Prince Ephraim, if you would not make such a big deal out of me simply doing my job. Especially when I have told you that I don't think I did my job well enough, or we wouldn't have been in this whole mess in the first place."

Ephraim gave him a mild shake; "Enough of that, Seth. I know you're humble, but you're taking it to ridiculous degrees. Just accept the praise, even if you don't feel worthy of it. Besides, this is mostly a justification; in reality, I'd only offer you her hand because I know it's what she wants, heroics be damned. You know that my sister's happiness is the most important thing to me right now. Once we get home to Renais, I'll have to shift my concerns to Renais itself, but for now, Eirika is my top priority."

"Brother, I'm right here. Stop talking about me like I'm not even there! I'm perfectly capable of deciding who I wish to marry, you know. I don't need my brother to negotiate a marriage for me!" Even as she said that, she noted that Seth's expression darkened uncomfortably and he looked away, as though a very unpleasant epiphany had just dawned on him. However, she wasn't about to ask him about whatever it was that was bothering him right here, in front of the other knights.

She wanted some time alone with him anyway. Even if it was just an illusion, even if they weren't able to genuinely be alone here, she wanted to at least feel like they were. Reaching out, she wound an arm around his; "Seth, let's go for a walk. L'Arachel did mention that there's a very lovely herbal garden on the other side of the palace."

It was a measure of how apparently rattled he was that he didn't even really react, just followed her lead silently. The others let them go without any attempts to intercept them, though as they moved further away, she could hear them starting to pester Ephraim for answers. That was fine. Let Ephraim reap what he'd sown in being so open about the whole thing.

Seth was completely silent, apparently deep in thought, as they strolled through the palace corridors, eventually ending up in a beautiful and fragrant herb garden.

"Seth," she said softly, stopping and turning to face him, "something's bothering you. I saw that look on your face when I commented about not needing my brother to broker a marriage deal for me. What's going on? Why did you look like you'd just had a very unpleasant recollection?"

He groused a bit; "Apparently I am an open book lately, if you caught that so easily."

"Please tell me what's bothering you, my love. I don't want any more secrets between us than absolutely necessary."

He sighed; "There is something you and Prince Ephraim do not know about, with regards to Renais's alliance with Grado. I'm not sure you want to hear this, either, my princess. It... I think it may be too soon after all that you went through with Prince Lyon's possession, and then his death."

She was silent a moment, not entirely sure she agreed, but not entirely sure that she disagreed either. "Is it... about Lyon?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Mostly, it is something that should have been taken care of, and if it had been, there is a good chance none of this war would have happened, but circumstances being what they were, things didn't work out, and one thing led to another."

"Is this something that Lyon did?"

"No, Prince Lyon had nothing to do with it directly, as far as I know. This was strictly between Emperor Vigarde and King Fado. But the repercussions... well, suffice to say, the failing of this proposition may have been what paved the way for this entire war."

"Please, Seth," she implored, "I can see that this is painful for you, and I don't think it's on my behalf that you're suffering, either. Please, tell me what you're talking about. No more riddles, please."

He heaved another sigh; "Several years ago, Emperor Vigarde approached King Fado with a proposition, uniting the royal houses of both countries. He proposed a marriage alliance uniting his son, the crown prince of Grado, with Fado's daughter, the princess of Renais."

Eirika's eyes widened. A marriage arrangement between her and Lyon, and she never knew about it?

"Unfortunately, Emperor Vigarde's timing was very poor, as the king's wife, your mother, was dying; in fact, she passed away about two days after Emperor Vigarde's visit. King Fado did not want to betroth you to Lyon without your consent, but due to the timing of the proposition and of your mother's death, he couldn't bring himself to talk about it. He sent me as his messenger to Grado to deliver his reply to the Emperor, that because of his wife's death, he could not answer the proposition until after a suitable mourning period had passed. He requested that Vigarde wait at least a year before broaching the proposition again. However, I believe it was within six months or so of this happening that Emperor Vigarde contracted the illness that I believe ultimately killed him. That may have contributed to the fact that the proposition was never brought up again by Grado; by the time the requested year had passed, Vigarde himself was too ill to put much thought into it."

She had no words. She didn't even know what to feel.

"So, in a way, had your mother not passed away when she did, or had King Fado not allowed her death to complicate things, it is entirely likely that you would be the Empress of Grado by now, and it is possible that Prince Lyon would not have resorted to his unthinkable actions after Emperor Vigarde passed away. Which means that this entire war might have actually been entirely avoided."

"No," she said softly, but with reasonable conviction. "This war couldn't have been prevented just by that. Lyon experimented with the Fire Emblem for years; he was drawn to it. I'm certain that not even I could have prevented him from resorting to what he did. I _want_ to believe that I could have, but I know in my heart that the draw of Fomortiis's soul and the power within that stone was so great that Lyon would have succumbed sooner or later." If she was brutally honest with herself, she wasn't totally convinced herself that she couldn't have saved Lyon from his own madness, but she felt compelled to allay Seth's concerns; it broke her heart to see him so unhappy. Her heart ached at the thought of what this must be doing to him, to know that she might have been married off to someone else -- to her own best friend, no less, someone she probably would have happily married if given the chance at the time -- but for circumstances beyond anyone's control.

She had loved Lyon, as a friend at the very least. Whether or not she had, or could have, loved him as more, she would never be able to truthfully say because she had never honestly thought that way of him. But she did know, without a doubt, that she loved and cherished the man in front of her, and desired greatly to ease his sadness. "Seth, please stop beating yourself up over this. There's nothing you could have done."

"My apologies, my princess. I wasn't, as you say, beating myself up over it. I was merely realizing that to some degree, I am a consolation prize compared to him. It is... you will have to forgive me for this moment of vanity... it is a bit of a blow to the ego."

"You are _not_ a 'consolation prize' at all, Seth! Where on earth did a ridiculous thought like that come from? Lyon was my dear friend and I loved him as such, but that doesn't make you any less of a man in my eyes than he was. How could you even entertain such a ludicrous thought?!"

He looked sheepish; "I... don't really know. Foolish of me, isn't it?"

"Very!"

"I'm sorry, my princess. I didn't mean to upset you. I realize I'm not being overly rational right now. I just... have never dealt with something this complex before. I am a soldier; I am trained to ignore my feelings and follow orders, or as a commander, to consider the greater whole and command with that in mind. I'm not used to this..." he gestured awkwardly between the two of them. "This is all so very new and difficult for me."

She sighed and rested her forehead against his shoulder; "I just... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that. I'm just shocked... I had no idea Father was considering marrying me off to Lyon. Do you think Lyon knew about this?"

"I don't know at all, milady. Prince Lyon was not present when I delivered the message to the Emperor, and I don't believe that Vigarde wanted anyone else to know about the proposition until he'd heard back from our king. But the prince might have found out later. I have no way of knowing for certain."

They fell silent, enjoying a brief sense of privacy. Seth seemed to relax now that they were alone, putting his arms around her and giving her cheek a tender caress before kissing her.

After a short respite, he cleared his throat; "Do understand, my dear princess, that I was not necessarily hiding this from you; more, it had slipped my mind until you mentioned someone negotiating a marriage for you. That jogged my memory, and an unpleasant memory at that. It is not that I was ordered to stay silent on the matter, but more that I was never ordered to tell you, and never felt the need for you to know, as long as your father was alive; and after the fall of Renais... well, let's just say that something that minor never entered my thoughts."

"It's fine, Seth, it's fine." She tugged on a lock of his hair. "I don't think less of you for this."

The companionable silence returned, punctuated by tender kisses. Then, after a few minutes of blissful solitude, they heard voices nearby.

"Isn't this place gorgeous? I bet it's as beautiful as the garden inside Jehanna Hall!"

"Given the current state of the Hall, I imagine the garden there is no match for this."

"Ha! Chief, you know what I mean!"

"Yes, I do. Hey, er, not here, Tethys." Mercenary commander Gerik's voice was affectionate but firm. "We're not alone in this garden you know."

"No one's looking."

"You said that before, doll, but that was in the middle of a battlefield, and Ewan teased us mercilessly because he _was_ in fact looking."

"Right," Tethys sounded unrepentant, even delighted. "And I knocked him in the head a couple of times for being a pipsqueak."

"And then he dropped a thunderbolt on me, the little runt, and said it was an accident," Gerik added.

"Saleh also brained him for misusing that tome, you know."

Gerik snorted; "Brained him? Are we talking about the same Saleh here? All he ever does discipline-wise is look at someone disapprovingly."

"Hey, it worked on Ewan. His teacher's disapproval is enough to stop my bratty little brother in his tracks, apparently. Don't knock it if it works!"

Eirika swallowed a giggle, feeling incredibly good. She looked up at her beloved and felt her heart swell with adoration for him.

"Let's not interrupt them," Seth said softly. "We wouldn't want to be interrupted ourselves, would we?"

"No, good point." Eirika's face almost ached with the smile she was wearing. She was feeling remarkably energetic, and in such a good mood. She wanted to dance, to sing, to throw her arms around her beloved paladin and kiss him with all her energy. She closed her eyes and sighed with contentment. "Seth, I love you so much."

He responded with a tender kiss, choosing to let that speak for him.

Nearby, Gerik and Tethys had rounded a corner and had spied them together.

"Cute," Gerik said softly with a smile. "Good to see them finally acting on their desires. I had a feeling they wanted each other for a while."

"It was pretty obvious," Tethys agreed, threading her arms around one of his. "So, Chief, are you serious about disbanding your troop?"

"Mm, yes. You heard Marisa, didn't you? She wants to lead her own band, and she's got enough talent, I think she'll be fine. She'll make for some stiff competition as a mercenary leader, and the last thing I really want to do is cross swords with her on the battlefield, which will be inevitable if she becomes as famous as she has the talent to become."

"So what are you going to do then?"

"Well, I was thinking about what you'd said a while ago, when you were telling me about the dancer you were inspired by, and the knight that spared me. I got to thinking, maybe there's something to what you said."

"Remind me, if you don't mind, as I don't recall."

"You said we should try and be an inspiration to others."

"Oh! Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?"

"Mm, yes you did, my dear. So what do you think?"

"Well, I think it's a smashing idea. Prince Innes has said he's paying us double our contract, which was double our previous contract. That's enough for us to buy out our own contracts with the Guild. We could buy us a nice retirement, I think. Except, I recall Prince Joshua and Prince Innes both wanting to hire you. Whatcha gonna do about that, Chief?"

"Refuse 'em both, obviously. I don't want to be bound to any one country. I'm tired of this mercenary life. I've found the woman of my dreams, and I've earned a small fortune putting various royals in my debt. I think it's time I retired my commissions, as it were, and looked to a future."

Tethys blushed at the compliment. "Well, I'm not ready to give up my trade, you know. I might have started dancing as a way to make money, but I do enjoy it. I do also enjoy seeing it make other people happy."

"And that's fine, you're perfectly free to do as you wish. You're not really bound to the Guild like I am anyway. I was thinking that it'd be nice to take up residence somewhere, maybe in Carcino, where I can teach swordplay to youths. Teach them how to become mercenaries if they've the talent for it, instead of being street urchins struggling to survive and turning to banditry. What about you, though?"

She contemplated that. "Well, I'm kinda on my own otherwise, aren't I? Ewan's made it clear that he's going back to Caer Pelyn with Master Saleh, because Saleh has decided to teach him everything he knows. I don't really like Caer Pelyn, and I don't think I should try and boss Ewan around forever; he's growing up so fast. So, I really don't have any reason to not follow you around, do I?"

Gerik chuckled; "Well, I was kinda hoping for something a little more substantial than that, but I'll take it. I was hoping you wouldn't want to stay in Caer Pelyn with him. I don't particularly like the altitude there, after all." He glanced over at the princess of Renais and her paladin, and smiled again. "Well, let's clear out of here and give them some privacy."

Eirika was blissfully unaware of their withdrawal, though Seth was aware. But the paladin held his silence, choosing to enjoy this bliss for now. "My darling princess," he murmured into her hair, "I must admit that I'm beginning to look forward to a wedding. Your enthusiasm is contagious, my dearest."

"You weren't looking forward to it before?"

"Not particularly. A wedding has always seemed very, er, superfluous."

She blinked in confusion. "But... you didn't want to get married? Why did you say you did?"

"Getting married is one thing. A big, fancy wedding is another."

"Oh!" She grinned. "Well, unfortunately, I am still a princess. There is some pomp and circumstance that must be observed."

"Hence," he said with a smile, "why I was not particularly looking forward to it. I'm still apprehensive, but now I'm starting to look forward to it. The more time I spend with you, my dearest, the more convinced I am that nothing is beyond our reach."

She reached up and brushed a stray lock of his hair back; "Well, if we marry soon enough, there won't be the resources for a big wedding. After all, Castle Renais is still in shambles, as is the rest of the country, and I know my brother wants to wait until we at least reestablish law and order throughout Renais before getting on with a coronation ceremony."

"And you don't want to reestablish law and order before securing your own happiness?"

"Er," she blinked, "I do, but... I don't think Ephraim has any intentions of letting, or making, us put it off. Besides, you're saying it like my happiness isn't secured until we've married." She traced a very faint, old scar on his jaw, a scar she had only recently even noticed. "I'm quite happy right now."

"You know what I mean, Princess Eirika," he chuckled, gently pinching her cheek before pressing a tender kiss to her lips. "It might be better to wait until Renais has stabilized a bit before we settle down in marriage. Prince Ephraim did say he cannot afford us to take any form of a honeymoon, and I cannot imagine being overly willing to leave your side to go on patrol once we've wed."

Eirika just shrugged; "I don't know. Knowing you, even if you don't want to 'leave my side,' as you say, if you're ordered to by my brother, you'll do it without hesitation."

"Of course I will. But that doesn't mean I'll enjoy a single second of it. And I don't imagine you'll be too thrilled either."

"Good point." She rested her head against his shoulder as they shifted around and began to walk slowly through the garden. "Well, it's inevitable. Our country is in shambles, and we have to rebuild it. We'll just have to steal time for ourselves together as we can."

"Indeed, my dear," he said softly. "I do hope Prince Ephraim does not delay his alliance talks with King Hayden for too long. I agree that Princess Tana would be a very big help to the reconstruction of our country. And," he added, a bit hesitantly but with a smile, "I believe that he loves her more than he realizes or is willing to admit."

They fell into a companionable silence, before another pair of voices stopped them. Some distance ahead, the familiar blend of scarlet and gold hair of Joshua and Natasha emerged in the garden.

"You know, Joshua, when I agreed to our little 'bet,' I didn't have any idea you were the Crown Prince of Jehanna. Exactly when were you planning to enlighten me?"

"Eh heh." Prince Joshua hemmed and hawed. "I didn't really think that far ahead. I just, er, kind of figured that it'd work itself out. Come on, Natasha, don't hate me for it. I feel horrible enough as it is that I wasn't there when I should have been. I still wonder if I could have protected Mother from Carlyle..."

"Of course I don't hate you. But you're lucky," Natasha retorted gently, "that I don't mind all that much. I'm not _thrilled_ by the prospect of being the Queen of Jehanna, but..." Then her voice shifted to something more sympathetic. "And stop beating yourself up. Surely you couldn't have anticipated that Sir Carlyle would betray Queen Ismaire like that."

"Of course I didn't anticipate that! When I saw him on my mother's throne, I thought I was going to be sick. He taught me most of what I know about how to wield a blade; seeing him turn that knowledge against my mother..." The Jehannan prince looked distraught. "That was the moment this whole war became personal for me."

"But he didn't turn his blade on the Queen... I thought you found out who actually did it."

"Well, Caellach was the one who actually took her life, but without Carlyle's betrayal, there's no way they could have gotten close enough to her to do that." Joshua looked genuinely miserable, a rare thing for him, since he was generally very carefree and laidback. "I... just wish I could have gotten back there sooner. I realize now that I left her alone for such selfish reasons, and look what happened."

Natasha put her arms around her beloved and gave him a hug; "Joshua, there's nothing you could have done. This is what was fated to happen. You were there for Queen Ismaire's final moments. That was all you could have done, and she faced the end of her life happy to see you again, to see you a grown man, strong and capable. She was able to turn Jehanna over with confidence to its new ruler."

The redhaired swordmaster gave her a weak smile; "Natasha, I get the distinct feeling, sometimes, that I really don't deserve you."

"I sincerely hope that _I_ don't give you that feeling!" She sounded mortified. "I certainly don't feel that way! I think it's the other way around, truth be told. I'm just a lowly cleric, common-born in Grado. You're the Crown Prince of the Land of the White Dunes."

"Shush," he said with a thin smile, "I'm hardly royal enough to be that intimidating. I'm not even a prince right now, I don't believe. I've already asked just about everyone to not use a royal title with me until my coronation; though I will be a king, I am not a prince right now. What kind of prince abandons his country to live as a mercenary?"

"Even if that country's main trade is mercenaries? Besides, you did what you had to in order to better serve your people. Your intentions were good, even if you think it was selfish."

"Tch," the swordmaster scoffed quietly, but gave his bride-to-be a tender nuzzle. "Thank you for the pep-talk. I'm very lucky to have you, Natasha. I thought for a while that you had your eyes on another redhead."

"Me? What?" The cleric looked alarmed. "Like who?"

"Mm!" He grinned. "A certain silver-armored knight from Renais comes to mind."

"Oh, please!" Natasha blushed fiercely. "General Seth is a very nice man and all, and I admire him greatly for his courage, but..."

"But?"

"There's simply no reason for you to be jealous!" She snapped. "Not only am I already devoted to you -- against my better judgment at times! -- but I'm quite certain that he has never once looked at me as anything other than a talented healer. I am quite certain that he has his eyes on someone else."

"Well, we know that much _now_ ," Joshua chuckled, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, my dearest. You make me feel better just by being yourself. I'm a very, very lucky man to have you in my life. I should be careful with gambling from now on, lest I lose that incredible luck."

"You? Give up gambling?" Natasha sounded unconvinced.

"Right, I know, and pigs will fly too. Well, it sounded kind of nice, didn't it? Besides, I didn't say I'd give it up, just that I'd have to be careful. Ah! I think I spy Marisa. Let's go see if we can't convince her to join our cause. I know she wants to maintain her freedom as a mercenary, but we could sure use her in Jehanna's military!" He grasped Natasha's hand and all but dragged the beautiful cleric after himself out of the garden.

Eirika looked over at Seth, who had turned a little bit red at that exchange.

"Don't look at me like that, Princess," he said softly. "I had to visit her a lot because of injury, but I never -- you know, I could be just as jealous of you and Brother Artur!"

She giggled; "I'm not jealous!" She gave him a peck on the cheek in an attempt to calm him. "I'm just surprised that Joshua was jealous of you!" Then his last comment made her blink. "Wait, why would you be jealous of Artur?"

"Because you ended up going to him for healing after his promotion, after Sister Natasha taught him how to use those staves."

"Oh. That was usually because he was the closest one with a Heal staff. He _is_ from Renais, you know, so he probably felt like he needed to keep an eye on me.Come on, Seth, you can't use healing staves either, it's not like I could have gone to you! And you know Artur only has eyes for Lute!"

The paladin blinked in surprise; "No, I didn't know that. I didn't realize he had 'eyes' for anyone. He _is_ a monk... er, was."

She was a bit taken aback; was it really not that obvious? If so, how had she noticed that Lute and Artur were more than friends? Or... were they even? Had she misjudged the whole thing?

Shaking her head, she said; "Either way, I don't think you have any reason to be jealous!"

He laughed outright and offered his arm to her; "Let's get back, my lady. I'm sure your brother will start to worry if we don't get back soon."

"I doubt it. He trusts you, Seth." She took his arm and settled into stride with him.

It made her so happy, to walk with him like this. She had never really realized how much this man meant to her until recently, despite him having always been there, as far back as she could remember, even further back than her friendships with the royals of Frelia and Grado. Seth had always been around. She couldn't even remember who was her father's most trusted paladin before Seth. She barely remembered the previous Knight General, other than that he had retired due to old age.

She felt her cheeks flushing a bit in embarrassment as she realized that she had never really paid Seth much attention until after the invasion by Grado and their frantic escape from the fallen castle.

 _I even had that crush on Prince Innes for a year or two._ She felt her cheeks flame a bit more at that realization. Those feelings had since dissolved and dissipated with age and maturity, but...

Apparently, her embarrassment had become apparent, because Seth paused; "Milady? Is something the matter?"

"Eh? Oh! Er, no, not really."

"Are you sure? Your face is all red."

She looked away; "I was just thinking that you have been around me all these years, and I never really noticed you until Grado's invasion, when you helped me escape. I mean, I know you've been my father's most trusted knight for a long time, in fact I hardly even remember who was in your position before you. And of course I've known you a long time. Seeing you in a room with us meant that we were safest, I knew that much. But... it kind of humbles me to think that I never really _noticed_ you before."

"Try to not let it bother you, my darling." His smile and voice were so kind, it almost made her feel worse. "I am a knight. It's my job to be part of the background for the royalty that depends on me. Saying that my presence made you feel safe is the highest compliment you could pay me. What's past is past. I certainly never had designs on you until that horrible night that we fled Castle Renais. Like I told you, I forgot my duty and thought of you not as my princess or queen, but as someone dear to me that I wanted to protect... not as the royal I should be protecting, but as a woman I cared deeply for. I think at one point I almost convinced myself that I was trying to protect you in place of the sister I couldn't save years ago. Of course, I look back on that thought and realize I was just fooling myself."

"The sister you couldn't save?" She blinked, realizing that she knew next to nothing about his family, beyond the fact that he had come from a family of knights, and his father, also a renown paladin in service to King Fado, had died many years ago in the line of duty. "I... didn't know you had any siblings, Seth."

"I had three, but my younger brother died in infancy; I barely remember him at all. My two older sisters were adults when they died; the older one died of childbirth complications. The younger one was killed by bandits. My mother and I were all that were left by the time I was your age, my princess. And, sadly, I lost her not long after that." He shook his head slowly. "A plague that year. It wiped out a lot of people. If I'm not mistaken, it was the same year that Sir Garcia's wife died, so it may have been the same illness. I have never had the heart to ask Sir Garcia if he even knows what illness took her from him, to see if it is the same one that my mother suffered."

"So you've been all alone for a long time, haven't you?" She asked in a small voice.

"All alone? Not true. My family might be gone, but I have hardly been alone. King Fado treated me like a son in many ways, and I had my fellow knights. And I've had you and Prince Ephraim, as well. I am not lonely, my princess." He stopped and faced her, bringing a hand to her cheek. "Especially now. As long as you are near me, I could never be lonely." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, before turning smartly around with practiced ease and resuming their leisurely stroll through the palace interior.

Hearing his offhand comment about how his oldest sister had died, of complications from giving birth, had brought up another thought to mind. While she had never really thought much before about her future as a parent, she did know that she wanted children eventually. She knew that pregnancy and childbirth were potentially dangerous for women -- supposedly, her own mother had been something of a victim of that, her health declining after the birth of the twins -- but it was a necessary risk... and yet...

Her feet stopped, rooting her in place as her mind began to work in a higher gear.

"Princess Eirika? What's the matter?"

"Seth," she said slowly, trying to get her mind and mouth to line up correctly, "you said your oldest sister died in childbirth?"

"Yes, she did. Sarah was never a very healthy person, and she didn't take very good care of herself when she was pregnant. And..." For just a split second, a shadow of hateful rage glanced across the knight's face. "Her husband did not treat her very well."

Eirika had never seen a look of such pure hatred from him before, not even when he was confronting Orson, and was taken aback by the sheer force of it, fleeting though it was; "What... what do you mean?"

The storm cloud seemed to hang over his face; "I... have no proof but I believe he mistreated her. Ahem," he cleared his throat loudly, "let us not speak any more on this subject, please. It is not something I like to think about, and it triggers a side of me I'd rather not show you."

She reached up and caught his face in her hands; "Seth, please don't hide from me."

"I'm not hiding, my lady, I simply do not want to relive that right now. Why did you ask for clarification, anyway? Is something bothering you?"

She blushed a little; "I only wanted to know about the circumstances... because..." Curse this stupid prudish reaction! "Well, I would like to have children someday..."

It took him a moment to put the pieces together; "Ah. So, you are concerned that I would be opposed to it because of what happened to my sister?"

"A little bit... I don't want to do something that upsets you or causes you unnecessary worry, Seth."

Spontaneously, he hugged her tightly; "My princess, please do not concern yourself with my past. You are the strongest woman I have ever known, and I have complete faith in you. If the day should come that we are to welcome a child into the world, I will not fear for your safety. I will, er, insist that you take good care of yourself if that time comes, of course."

She laughed, a trifle self-consciously, hugging him as well; "Of course I'll take care of myself if that happens. After all, I would be endangering not only myself but our child as well. A pregnant woman has more than just herself to think about, after all!"

He looked a little awkward as he released her and stepped back a pace; "This... is an unsettling conversation, I must admit. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were trying to tell me something..."

She grinned impishly at him; "Seth, you worry too much about trivial matters. If anyone overhears us and assumes that because we are talking about a potential future child, it must mean that I am currently pregnant, then they deserve to assume such a ridiculous thing." She grasped his arm. "Come, my love, let's return to our companions."

However, they arrived on what looked like the tail-end of an ugly scene. Innes was standing at the top of the steps, glaring down at Ephraim, who was standing at the bottom of the steps. For his part, Ephraim looked both angry and frustrated.

"This is _far_ from over, Ephraim," the Frelian prince said menacingly. "Mark my words, this is but the beginning."

"I'm not going to duel you, Innes," Ephraim snapped. "I refuse to lower this to such a petty squabble. If you want to duel me, fine, but it will have to be a mere pastime. I won't hinge my future on it."

Innes glowered at him, then turned on his heel and stormed past Eirika and Seth into the palace. Vanessa and Syrene, who had been flanking their prince, exchanged exasperated glances and followed after him.

Tana was sitting on the steps near Ephraim, looking heartbroken. "I'm so sorry, Ephraim. I tried... I really did. My brother is just... too insistent."

"It's all right, Tana," Ephraim said with a heavy sigh. "It wasn't your fault. I was foolish to think we could hide this from him. He's always been so suspicious of me."

"What just happened?" Seth inquired, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Innes managed to figure it out, and blew a gasket at me."

"Figure what out?"

Ephraim's eyes narrowed. "You _know_ what I'm talking about."

"Eh?" The paladin blinked, then thumped his forehead in realization; "Ah. That. Sorry, my prince, I seem to be a little bit out of sorts this afternoon."

"He dragged it out of me," Tana said miserably, her eyes welling with tears. "I tried so hard, too..."

Ephraim reached down, grasped onto her hand and pulled her to her feet, pulling her into his arms as he did so; "It's not your fault, Tana. For some reason, Innes has always hated me, and I don't really know why. It rather makes me despair that Renais and Frelia can remain allies once he takes over the throne. I don't see how we can be close allies when the King of Frelia hates the King of Renais on principle like that." Then he pinched her chin affectionately. "But, cheer up. Barring any serious objections from your father, I _will_ make you my bride. Innes can just lump it."

She rested her forehead against his shoulder; "I feel terrible saying this, but if I can't have my brother's blessing on this, it will feel incomplete. I do love him very much, you know, Ephraim. We may not be as close as you and Eirika have always been -- I suppose because Innes has always thought me to be less intelligent than him -- but... he's my brother and I love him and I really want his blessings."

"Give him time, Princess," Gilliam said calmly. "He is very over-protective of you."

"Aha," Father Moulder said, his bright hazel eyes twinkling mischievously, "so, Prince Ephraim, you _are_ planning to marry. I was right after all!"

"Er, well, yes, but that wasn't supposed to be common knowledge until I'd had a chance to treat with King Hayden." Ephraim's face folded in acute frustration; "Siblings! First Eirika drags it out of me, and then Innes drags it out of Tana!"

The aging priest chuckled; "Don't you worry a bit, milord. I am certain His Majesty will be thrilled by this news. King Hayden and your father go a long way back. Having his daughter marry his old friend's son would be a great honor."

Eirika noticed a change in Seth's demeanor; "Prince Ephraim. If you please, I would spar with you now."

Ephraim looked at his highest-ranking knight with scrutiny. "Seth, I appreciate the gesture, but I must decline. I am far too irritated right now to be rational. I would likely end up hurting you. I do know your weakness, and your lance arm is opposite mine."

Seth's entire body stiffened in mild offense; "Your Highness, I respectfully take umbrage to that."

"Take offense all you want," Ephraim said irritably. "I'm not in the mood to spar with anyone, not even you. Kyle! Forde! Come. We're going."

"Uh," Forde said, hastily putting his sketchbook away. "Where are we going, Prince?"

"For a ride."

"Er... both of us with you? We are in allied territory..."

Kyle swatted Forde; "You ought to remember that Prince Ephraim promised, after we found out about the death of His Majesty, that he wouldn't go anywhere without one of us except in emergency situations. Even in allied territory."

"Right, because Prince Ephraim is not equipped to take care of himself, he needs us there to protect him," Forde muttered.

"In his current mood? Precisely."

"That's enough, Kyle," the prince said, stepping away from Tana. "Let's just go."

"Er," Forde looked hopeful, "shouldn't that mean that one of us should stay here to protect Princess Eirika?"

"If you think you can protect my sister better than your own General," Ephraim said with a reluctant chuckle, "I'd like to see that. Especially since you couldn't even beat him in a sparring match. He had to goad you into being serious. However, for now, you're coming with me and I won't hear any more arguments."

"Besides, Brother," Franz said, grinning waspishly, "I'm here too. I can protect Princess Eirika, if it comes to that."

"Like I need your help," Eirika retorted, joining the banter. "I can take care of myself, you know! You just don't know how good I am because you're all too chicken to spar with me!"

"Argh," Forde muttered. "You're all against me. How heavily do we have to armor up, Prince Ephraim?"

"Just come with me, we'll saddle up and go for a ride. Armor shouldn't really be necessary, but I am not about to start breaking my promises, either."

As the Crown Prince of Renais stalked away with two of his most trusted retainers flanking him, Tana turned to Seth, and said, a bit shyly; "Can I accept the challenge in Ephraim's place? I'd like to drill a little with the lance again, and Syrene and Vanessa are busy."

Gilliam looked annoyed; "Princess, you could have asked me."

"Yes, but I'd like to try out General Seth first. After watching him best Forde and Kyle with a sword, I'd... you know..." She turned red. "Forgive me, Gilliam. I only wish to test out my strength versus the Silver Knight."

Seth grunted unhappily at the use of his title again. "I seem to have acquired a following I didn't really want. Everyone wants a piece of me!"

Franz was grinning happily; "If he won't spar with you, Princess Tana, I'd be happy to. General Seth taught me much of what I know about the lance when I was his squire."

Seth waved that off; "It's not necessary, Franz. I'd be honored to spar with you, Princess Tana. Just know that I won't go easy on you. I never go easy on someone in a drill. If you wanted me to _instruct_ you, I'd go easy, but you seem talented enough to not need my instruction. Please be sure you are very clear when you want to stop, Your Highness."


	6. Chapter 6

Kyle and Forde remained silent during the majority of the brief ride they shared with Prince Ephraim. The prince's sullen countenance had convinced both of them that silence was the best approach to dealing with their sovereign liege's temper right now.

After a while, though, Forde became uncomfortable with the silence and tried to break the ice; "So... this is kind of a surprise to me, but... I think my little brother's in love."

"Really? I never would've guessed," Kyle said blandly.

There was a sharp metallic scraping of Storm's shod hooves skidding on the cobblestone as Ephraim pulled the gelding up sharply. The two knights did their best to rein in their mounts without colliding with the rouncey.

The prince turned in his saddle, favoring his two knights with an incredulous expression; "Kyle! Was that _sarcasm_ I just heard from you?"

Kyle's jaw dropped open. "What?"

"You mean to tell me you _have a sense of humor_?! Will wonders never cease?"

Forde doubled over in the saddle, howling with laughter at the outrage on Kyle's face.

"I have always had a sense of humor, your highness," the green-armored knight said stiffly. "I just don't find Forde all that amusing at times. A feeling that is clearly not mutual."

Ephraim reined his horse around so that he faced his knights; he appeared to be a little bit more at ease now, with the tension broken. "Has it never occurred to you that sometimes you don't need to be as serious as Seth always is? You need to chill out sometimes; even Seth doesn't work at all times. He has his down time."

"I have my down time too!" Kyle retorted. "I just don't waste time _painting in battle_."

"Don't throw that at me!" Forde chortled; "You asked me to teach you how to paint, you know!"

"I agree that Forde has some bad habits, but come on, Kyle. You're too uptight."

"The ladies still love him, that's what kills me!" Forde added, unhelpfully.

Kyle grunted; "At least I have a girlfriend. Unlike a certain ladies' man I know."

"That's not my point, Kyle," Ephraim chuckled. "And I hope that last comment wasn't directed at me!"

"What? No!" Kyle put up his hands defensively; "Prince Ephraim, since when have you ever shown much interest in any women? Don Lothario over here --" he swatted at Forde, who ducked with practiced ease, " -- was even flirting with Princess L'Arachel until he realized he'd have to put up with Dozla if he wanted to really court her."

"I was just trying to get her to ease up! She's so uptight! Just like you, Kyle!"

"Uptight?" Ephraim raised an eyebrow. "She's a lot of things, but uptight is hardly how I'd describe her. And, Kyle, you asked since when have I had interest in women? Were you paying any attention to that fiasco back there, the reason why Innes was so furious? Or were you implying something _else_?"

"Prince Ephraim!" The knight was getting genuinely distressed. "Please stop trying to put words into my mouth that I never intended!"

After a moment's laughter, Ephraim regarded both knights, first one and then the other, resting his hands on the pommel of his saddle; "Thank you, both of you. I needed a chance to clear my head. And I'm really glad you both came with me. You have been my most loyal knights, and I appreciate it. This is a difficult time for Eirika and I... we've both lost a lot..." His expression was mournful and he closed his eyes. "I've lost my best friend. I still have to bury my father and then take his place and rebuild what was destroyed. And now..." He sighed. "No matter what I try to do, Innes wants nothing to do with me. I would like nothing better than to forge a friendship with him that is strong enough, perhaps not as strong as that between his father and mine, but strong enough to see both of our countries remain firm allies. It is... disheartening, to say the least, that he despises me despite my best efforts."

"If I may, Prince Ephraim?" Forde said after a moment's silence. Ephraim indicated wordlessly for him to continue, so he went on; "I think you are misunderstanding Prince Innes. He is a proud man, but he is far from blind and anything but stupid. I believe he sees further ahead than any of us. I have watched him interact with you over the course of this conflict, and I believe that he has the potential to be a greater monarch than even you, my prince, and he is trying to see to it that you live up to your own potential. I don't think he despises you at all; I think that he is merely frustrated because he doesn't understand you, and he wants to see you realize your potential. He considers you a rival and wants you to be worthy of that."

Kyle did his best to not stare at Forde in disbelief. It wasn't that he didn't believe what he was hearing, as Forde was capable of this kind of clear thinking and clear speaking, but he rarely did it. It was a further reminder, if necessary, that Forde was much more than a lazy mounted knight. When a situation called for it, the blond knight could be very diplomatic and reasonable. But Kyle was a little surprised at how quickly Forde had switched masks. Just moments ago he had been playing the jester and now he was playing the adviser.

"Also, he is very protective of Princess Tana. I can understand why, too. The age difference between Prince Innes and his sister may not be as great as the one between me and my little brother, but I can still understand why he's protective. I don't know that either of you remember, as it's been a long time, but I used to be very protective of Franz, back before he signed up as a recruit with the Knights of Renais. I've never really had it in me to say this to his face, but I feel indebted to General Seth for having transformed my little brother into what he's become."

"I wish I could understand," Ephraim said wistfully. "Eirika has never really _let_ me be very protective of her. Any time I've tried to be, she insists on becoming stronger so that I don't have to. However, I see your point."

Kyle shifted uncomfortably; "I don't feel like I fit into this conversation at all, as I come from a very boring family. But I do know this, Prince Ephraim: your sister is a rare jewel of a woman. So is Princess Tana."

Forde laughed; "With all due respect, Kyle, that has no bearing on the discussion at hand. Now, as I recall, all this began because I mentioned that my little brother is in love, and Kyle here seemed to think I'm an idiot for being surprised by it!"

Ephraim chuckled; "Indeed. So, explain that, Kyle!"

Kyle blinked in surprise; "You mean to tell me you haven't noticed before how much Franz follows Amelia everywhere like a smitten puppy? How he's been that way ever since she joined us?"

"I've been a little preoccupied with keeping our company together and keeping everything in order."

Kyle was unconvinced. "General Seth does a lot of that for you, Prince Ephraim, and even he noticed it."

Ephraim laughed self-consciously; "Ah, well, sorry, I am not exactly an expert at kingship. I'm working on it!" He reined Storm around. "Let's go back before my sister starts to worry."

* * *

The three of them handed off their horses to Rausten stable hands and headed back into the palace. Ephraim seemed to be back in his usual spirits, no longer sullen and angry. Kyle noted that Forde was in rare comedic form, and it was now clear why: he was trying to keep Ephraim in that elevated mood. Things were better for everyone when Ephraim was in a good mood.

They emerged into the courtyard they'd left earlier to see an unexpected sight. Tana and Seth were clearly still in the middle of a spar, though they had paused for healing. Based on the sheepish look on Seth's face, the location of where he was being healed, and the concentration on Tana's face, Ephraim knew exactly what had just happened.

"No one warned you to not hit his weak spot, huh?" He called over to Tana.

"My apologies," Seth said insistently. "Princess Tana, I really think we should..."

"Silence," Tana said savagely, brandishing her silver lance in his direction. "I'm going to defeat you! If you want to quit, you have to surrender!"

Seth's mouth drew into a thin line; "I don't surrender. Not unless ordered to."

"Then we're not done yet. I've gotten further than anyone else today, and I won't be satisfied until either you defeat me outright or you surrender!"

The paladin's brow folded up in frustration; "Princess Tana, I really don't want to hurt you, but you are beginning to try my very patience."

"Come on!" Tana brushed Moulder away and advanced on the paladin. "I'm not done with you yet, Seth!"

Seth gently pushed Artur aside and took up a defensive stance, waiting to meet the Frelian princess's attack. Ephraim and his two knights sidled around and gathered by Eirika. Kyle greeted the young sage, Lute, who hailed from Za'ha, near the border of Renais and Grado, the same village that Artur came from. Kyle and Lute had developed an unusual friendship, and she returned his greeting warmly. Ephraim noted that Artur's entire posture became very rigid and aggressive when Kyle exchanged pleasantries with Lute. The young bishop positively oozed jealousy, but he was far too nice and polite to actually confront Kyle about it.

Ephraim nudged Forde; "I thought Kyle said he had a girlfriend back at home."

"Huh? He does. I met her. Name's Tess. Nice girl, too. Perfect for someone like Kyle. As I recall, she's a barmaid at her father's tavern. Why?" The blond knight followed the prince's eyes and then he chuckled; "Ah. I think he's been working with Lute to develop battle techniques. You know how serious he is, and when he got his butt handed to him by that shaman back in Renvall, he decided he needed to develop techniques for fighting mages. At least, that's what he told me a while ago. But I don't think Mistress Lute quite fits Kyle's taste in women, if you follow me."

"Mmm, well, try telling that to someone else over there."

They were interrupted by the sound of metal on metal as Tana launched an all-out assault on Seth. It was clear that she was deliberately targeting the paladin's weak spot, the gouge in the left side of his torso where Valter Moonstone had badly wounded him what felt like forever ago. The moment she succeeded was the moment that the tide of the spar shifted. Seth was normally pretty passive in sparring, tending to fight defensively, not so dissimilar from his style on the actual battlefield. But when his weakness was exposed, it triggered an aggressive side of him. The red-haired knight didn't like to lose, and liked even less to have the chinks in his armor exposed; Forde sometimes referred to the injury as "the General's berserker button." Whether in a spar or on the battlefield, if someone hit his old injury, it triggered an aggression in the paladin that was rare to see. He even sometimes ignored the rules of engagement when this happened; it was an automatic reaction, a desire to end the conflict before further injury was incurred.

And with Seth being tired from all the sparring matches he'd been challenged to all day, this was the final straw. When Tana jabbed her silver lance at his weak spot, Seth's eyes narrowed to slits and he snapped his arm down, bringing his lance down heavily onto hers. However, this time, he did so with both hands on the lance, forcing hers down until she had to drop the weapon. Then, with lightning-quick reflexes, he spun his weapon around and held the spearhead at her throat, ending the battle quite succinctly.

"Enough," he growled. "I've had enough of this. You've targeted that spot three times now. I cannot guarantee your safety if you hit it again. And I would rather die than hurt you, Princess. I will not spar with you again if this is how you choose to spar. If this is how the Frelian Pegasus Knights choose to train their own, I want no part of it. I will accept no more challenges today. I am exhausted and in a bad mood."

Ephraim clapped his hands sharply to get their attention; "Enough, enough. Tana, that was impressive. I knew you were good with a lance, but wow! Seth, why don't you and Eirika go for a ride? I know that going for a quick ride sure helped clear my head, and Storm appreciated the chance to stretch his legs. I'm sure Hyperion and Thrush would appreciate it as well. There's some incredibly gorgeous scenery around here. Truly a beautiful country, this Rausten."

Eirika looked at her brother, and nodded in acceptance of the proffered chance to get away from prying eyes. She turned to her beloved paladin; "Let's go, Seth. A short gallop sounds like a good way to unwind and I know I'd enjoy a chance to get out and about."

He nodded in mute acceptance of the unvoiced order and holstered his lance on the rack, turning abruptly away from Tana in a huff of irritation. Then, he followed Eirika out of the courtyard, his strides stiff and deliberate. The Frelian princess looked crestfallen at his hostility and her shoulders slumped a little.

"I didn't mean to make him mad," she said softly as Ephraim approached her. She was struggling with tears in her eyes, clearly upset but trying to hold it in. "I just wanted to prove myself against him."

Surprisingly, it was Forde who spoke reason first; "Princess Tana, he's not mad at you. He's annoyed with you, but he's not mad at you. If he's angry at all, he's angry at himself for letting himself get like that. He doesn't like to let his stoic mask slip off, after all."

She looked at him, skeptical of his optimism; "Do you really mean that, or are you just saying it to make me feel better?"

"I mean it. Honest. My word as a knight, he's not angry with you. Trust me, I've had him actually angry with me before. That? That wasn't him angry at someone."

Kyle chuckled sardonically; "Forde would know. He's the only knight I know of who can tick off General Seth and not end up out on his duff! I'm convinced that Prince Ephraim is the reason for that!"

"I have no influence over who Seth fires and who he doesn't!" Ephraim retorted with a grin. "Or at least, I never did before. I might _now_ , but I didn't back before this war."

Franz looked unconvinced; "It looked to me like General Seth was pretty angry at her, Brother. Are you absolutely sure?"

Forde gave a toothy, unrepentant smile; " _You_ , little brother, have never been on the receiving end of the General's wrath. You'd know it when you see it. That was irritation more than anything. Come on, Franz, you've been around the General more than any of us since the fall of Renais. Surely you've seen firsthand how he's changed since Valter Moonstone wounded him!"

Franz shrugged; "By the time I reunited with him, he'd had the wound treated, so I didn't even know about it until later."

Forde and Kyle exchanged looks, before both of them erupted into laughter. Franz's young face folded up in anger.

"Why are you laughing at me!"

"Because you completely missed the point, little brother," Forde said, holding his side from the laughter.

"It's not how the General changed because of the wound," Kyle said, gently enough to soothe Franz's frustration, "it's how he's changed because of the circumstances surrounding the whole incident."

"Keep somethin' in mind, lads," a gruff, graveled voice said from nearby; the wizened axe-wielding warrior, Garcia, leaned against a post, watching them. The former troop commander of the Renais infantry had been the one to teach Kyle and Forde how to use an axe in combat, in particular the versatile hand-axe. "Keep in mind that General Seth is young yet, and has suffered more trauma than any of you louts can imagine. Imagine being told to abandon your liege and homeland, to flee to a neighboring country in order to protect one person. Imagine losing all but a handful of your best cavaliers, and finding out that one of your best paladins caused all this by betraying you and your home."

Ephraim regarded the warrior with sad eyes; "I hope you weren't lumping my sister and I into that whole 'louts' thing, because frankly, I trusted Orson more than I should have, more than I knew in my heart that I should have. And Eirika had to watch all that happen."

"My prince," Garcia said gently, "you and your sister have suffered greatly at the hands of this war, and no one will deny that, but think for a moment what it meant to your paladin, to have to betray his own chivalric vows in order to obey his king. He told me himself that he'd never been so mortified, never felt so utterly powerless. He was forced to abandon his king to die, knowing full well that it would happen, and forced to watch as Castle Renais went down in tatters, while it was all he could do to protect _one person_." He eyed Forde and Kyle. "You boys know, doncha? Knights like the General live and die by their chivalric code. Tis a measure of his loyalty to His Majesty that he was willing to forsake that in order to trust his orders, and a measure of His Majesty's foresight that he was able to trust General Seth to carry out such orders."

Kyle looked mildly alarmed; "I never thought of it that way."

Ephraim looked over at where Seth and Eirika had disappeared into the palace. "I need that man more than Father ever did, I think. Thank you, Sir Garcia. I also never thought about the General that way."

"Pretty sure he didn't want you to think that of him," Garcia said with a kindly smile. "And I agree, for what it's worth, Princess Tana: I'm pretty sure he's mad at himself more than he is annoyed with you. That was a rather unknightly display of temper there. He's probably embarrassed, especially since it came out like that in front of his bride-to-be, if I'm understanding Father Moulder properly."

Tana blinked in astonishment. "His what?"

Ephraim looked at her in surprise; "You didn't know? Eirika didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" She demanded.

"Ha! She didn't! Amazing!"

"Tell me, Ephraim!"

He put a hand over her mouth to shush her; "I've offered Seth my sister's hand in marriage, with her consent, and he accepted. Thus, when we get home to Renais, Eirika and Seth are to be wed."

Tana let out a soft, high-pitched squeal of delight and wrestled herself away from his hand. "Really? Oh, that's so wonderful! I want to go hug her now!"

"Well, you should wait until they get back from their ride," Ephraim said pragmatically. "Meanwhile, why don't you and I go for a walk? L'Arachel insists that there's a lovely garden here in the palace that we simply must behold."

* * *

Once Eirika and Seth got outside of the palace, near the stables, the paladin halted mid-stride; "My princess, I must apologize for that unpleasant display back there. I really did not want you to see that side of me. It was deplorable."

"What are you talking about? I've seen you like that before. You're just as aggressive on the battlefield, and I've been with you through most of this war. I was there at your side when you killed Valter Moonstone. And I was there when you confronted Orson in Castle Renais."

"With all due respect, those were enemies, and ones I had legitimate reason to hate. Back there, that was our ally, and your dear friend, Princess Tana. I should not have lost my temper with her. That was unpardonable."

"Tana was practically asking for it, Seth. We all saw her targeting your side like that once she discovered it got such a reaction from you. She knew better than to do it, and she still did it. You have nothing to apologize for, so stop apologizing already!" She pulled his face down and gave him a quick smooch. "I won't stand for you being so formal with me all the time! I'm going to be your wife soon."

"Mm, and until that day arrives when we are joined in marriage, you will have to put up with my formality from time to time. You are still my princess before you are my future bride. I regret that this is a habit that will be a while in breaking, my dear princess."

She sighed; "All right, but you're going to have to deal with me not putting up with it very well then! Fair's fair."

The knight chuckled and pecked a kiss to her forehead; "Let us go get our horses." He gestured at the large, shining white stable before them. "I believe that yours is stabled on this end, while Hyperion is down at the other end. I shall retrieve him and meet you here, hmm?"

She nodded in acceptance, and waited until he'd disappeared down one side of the building, watching him as he walked. There was a very slight hitch in his stride, proof both of Tana's skill (and strength) in hitting the paladin's weakness, and that Seth had shrugged off the healing too quickly during the spar. She'd have to remedy that when they got back to the palace. Perhaps Father Moulder could convince the paladin to hold still long enough while a proper healing took place...

Then she shook herself out of her reverie and stepped into the stable. The walls were a brilliant, freshly-washed white. Horses poked their varicolored heads out of stalls, eyes bright and ears pricked. These were very well-cared-for animals. There was a box stall whose back end was open out into a small paddock, and through the doorway, Eirika could see L'Arachel's strawberry roan rouncey frisking about.

Her brother's horse Storm was in his stall, munching happily on a rack of fragrant hay while a groom brushed him down and cleaned his hooves. Next door, her own horse Thrush was stamping his feet impatiently, having caught scent of his rider approaching.

"Easy there, boy. I'm right here. We're going for a short ride. Not very long, just long enough to stretch your legs. You should rest up though, because tomorrow we're back on the road and it could be weeks before you get a nice stall like this again!" She stepped into the stall and put a hand on his neck. The gelding nickered eagerly and pushed his head toward the stall door, but didn't force his way out like she'd feared he might; she knew Storm had a bad habit of bullying his way out of his stall if a person wasn't prepared for him.

She reached for the bridle hanging by the stall door and, with a bit of wrestling with the horse, managed to get it on him. Once that was done, she opened the stall door up to lead him out to the tack area where the saddles were kept. As she was about to do just that, she heard voices coming from further down the shedrow, approaching slowly along with the _clip-clop_ of a single horse's shod hooves. She peeked out at the source.

"Are you sure about that? It's a lot of work, you know." It was the company's ranger, Neimi. Her sorrel pony was prancing along eagerly, head bobbing with good humor.

"Oh come on! You think I'm adverse to a little work?" Colm walked at Neimi's side, his arms crossed over his head in a casual posture.

"But it's not a 'little work' Colm. It's a _lot_ of _hard_ work and heavy lifting. Lark was completely razed. They burned all the buildings to the ground. We'll have to do more than repair -- we have to rebuild. Have you ever built a house?"

"Er... no, but it can't be that hard. H-hey, don't give me those big watery eyes! I can do it!"

"Colm, you're s-such..." Neimi's voice wavered emotionally, "such an idiot... You don't know a-anything about carpentry or... Grandfather could do a lot of things b-but he couldn't build a house, so he had to hire someone to build his..."

"C'mon, please stop crying! Look, Neimi, Garcia and Ross told me that if we help them get their home of Ide back to working order, they'll come help us get started on rebuilding Lark. The Borgo bandits torched all our homes and if we help them, they'll help us. You know that Garcia built his own house before, don't you?"

"Yeah, but..." Neimi sounded unconvinced, and a bit unhappy.

By this point, they had drawn alongside the stall Eirika was standing in with her horse. Neimi smarted to attention, saluting the princess. "Milady, good day."

"I'm sorry," Eirika said, "I couldn't help but overhear. I wish there was something I could do to help you both, but... I don't know any carpenters, and my own castle is in shambles too. And I think the treasury got completely looted while Orson was in charge there, or I'd offer to help you hire some carpenters."

"Princess Eirika," Colm said reasonably, with a slight blush of embarrassment, "you owe us nothing. Frankly, we... or at least I... owe you... for... you know, allowing us to come with you. I'd like to think that you saved our lives by giving us a chance to realize our own abilities and potential. Er, I know your paladin, General Seth, was against my coming along, and for good reason, but... er..."

Eirika just smiled at them both; "You've been invaluable to our cause. Both of you. I'm just glad that it worked out in everyone's favor. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go for a ride, and I need to get a saddle on my horse." She led her horse over to the cross-ties and began tacking him up. Neimi and Colm took their leave and continued on down the shedrow to where Neimi's pony was stabled.

By the time Eirika had Thrush saddled and ready to go, she heard the familiar cadence of hooves and looked over expectantly to see Hyperion's hulking, muscular form nearby. To her surprise, he wasn't tacked up with anything beyond a simple halter and a saddle pad.

"You're riding him like that?" She inquired when Seth came into view from the other side of his horse.

"It's best for him this way. He'll be able to relax. I've trained him to view his full tack as a sign that we will be fighting. So, since we're off-duty, it's best if I go with the minimum amount of tack."

She was impressed; she knew that he was a superb horseman, since his father had been a Renais cavalry knight before him. And she knew that he trained his own horses, had done so since his days as a fresh recruit.

"Let's go, my lady," he said with a smile as he climbed aboard his horse. She quickly mounted her horse and followed him out into the sunshine. "I believe there are some nice riding trails over here. Shall we?"

* * *

As they came into the view of the stables after about an hour and a half of riding on the trails, Eirika let out a sigh of contentment; "Seth, may I have your word on something?"

He turned to her, pulling Hyperion up so that Thrush pulled alongside him; "What is it, milady?"

"When we are married, and when time permits, in between patrols and such, do you think we could go for the occasional ride like this? I really enjoyed riding beside you today. It was very relaxing. I find it is very reassuring to have you at my side even when we are supposed to be at peace. Ephraim and I used to do that when we were kids, and I always enjoyed it."

He smiled at her, a genuine, unguarded smile that made her chest flutter a bit; "Of course, though I will probably not use Hyperion for such rides. He is not the best horse for pleasure riding. He is by far the bravest and most talented horse I have ever trained and used, but he is a war horse more than he is a pleasure horse."

"I don't care what horse you use," she laughed. "You could ride a mule for all I care. I imagine you could even make a mule look dignified!"

He laughed at that and then leaned over to her, pressing a light kiss to her lips; "You honor me too much with such praise, my dear princess, but I thank you anyway. I can't guarantee that we will have much time for such idleness for a while, but I will certainly make time for you when and where I can."

"I can ask for nothing more than that," she replied.

"And now, if I may, I'd like for you to make me a promise in exchange."

She leveled a firm look at him, with a gut feeling of what he was about to ask of her; "Don't you dare make me promise to not fight any more once we get home. I will not allow you to protect me when I could be helping you."

He looked unhappy; "What I ask is that you abandon offensive maneuvers and fight strictly defensively. I will endeavor to teach you all the defensive sword techniques of the Knights of Renais, but I ask that you defend Castle Renais. We must never allow it to fall again. And I cannot guarantee that I will be able to spare anyone, even myself, to help defend the castle at the expense of patrols -- all five of us knights will be doing the work of the twenty knights we lost, and I suspect Prince Ephraim will not allow us to do the work without his help at least at first. Replenishing our ranks will take time."

She held her silence, a little confused now as to what he was asking her to promise.

After a moment, his expression saddened at her silence; "Are you so unwilling, my lady?"

"It's not that. I just don't quite understand what it is you want me to promise to do."

"I want you to promise me that, no matter what happens to me in the event of an attack, you will _defend_ Castle Renais. You must do what is right by Renais. Even if something should befall me out in the field, you must keep Renais as your top priority. You must not engage the enemy yourself; let them come at you if you must, but you must _defend_."

"Seth... why are you so determined to make me promise such a thing?"

He sighed; "Because I know you, my princess. I know that you will sometimes forego your own safety in favor of your feelings. And because, as much as I love you -- and I do love you, more than any other person, more than I thought possible to love anyone -- my heart will always belong to Renais above all other things. It has been my life's mission to protect and serve the country I was born in, even at the cost of my life. If a sacrifice must be made for the good of Renais, let it be me and not you."

"I'm so sorry, Seth," she said softly, "but I can't bear to make a promise to you that I feel I may not be able to keep. I can't guarantee that if something happened to you, that I'd be able to behave rationally. I can promise you that I will try my hardest, but if something happens to you... I can't promise that I'll be able to keep my wits about me. And I don't want to give you a false promise."

It was comforting to know that he cared about Renais as much as she did. But she wasn't willing to sacrifice him for the good of Renais any more than she would willingly sacrifice Ephraim. Hadn't there been enough death and sacrifice?

He reached over and put a hand against her cheek, brushing a stray hair away. "I think you are misunderstanding my intentions, Princess Eirika. I am not planning to fall in battle; I have survived this long as it is without as much reason to thrive as I have now. Until now, I have lived to serve Renais. Now, I have more reason than ever to return home. I would hate to leave you to grieve as my father did my mother. I would rather not subject you to that slow agony. However, I am still a knight and I know that my life may be forfeit if a situation demands it. I am not going to deny that remote possibility and I do not want you to be caught unawares."

"Then why is this even an issue?" She was trying hard to not get upset. "I still am not sure I understand what you want me to promise."

"My dear princess, I do not anticipate any such problems arising. But it's my job as the General to consider and plan for worst case scenarios. If I am to take you to wife, I must, in good conscience, be sure that Renais will never suffer for it. I need to know that I can trust you to protect Castle Renais if the worst should come to pass." Then, after a moment's consideration, he elaborated. "You are not made for aggressive melee fighting, my dear. I have watched you in battle all this time, and while you have improved your tactics, you are still somewhat reckless like that accursed brother of yours." Left unsaid, but heavily implied, was a reminder of how many times he had been forced to swing his horse in to sweep her off the ground when she got in over her head in a fight. "Unlike Prince Ephraim, however, you are not quite as physically durable -- you are not built for combat, my lady. That is why I ask that you abandon any offensive maneuvers and fight strictly defensively. You are most effective when you are defending. You lose much of that effectiveness when you go on the offense."

He nudged Hyperion forward alongside her horse and pulled Eirika into his arms in a tight hug. "I love you, my princess. I'm sorry that I can't seem to communicate my intentions very well lately. I am not normally this tongue-twisted."

Then he released her and turned Hyperion around toward the barn. "Let's get these horses put away and then we can talk a little more, hmm?"

* * *

As it happened, the two of them passed the rest of the afternoon talking, strolling through the gardens or sitting on a bench in the courtyard. A lot of misunderstandings, many of which ones that they hadn't even realized were present, were cleared up between the two of them through the long, leisurely conversation. Eirika couldn't remember a time in recent memory when she'd been this blissful and happy, as though all the pain, suffering, problems and danger were all just a distant nightmare. If this kind of halcyon afternoon was a taste of what they had to look forward to once Renais was restored... it gave her all the more reason to want to get their country back on its feet.

As the sun continued to wester in the sky, a servant found the two of them and informed them that the feast that Pontifex Mansel had arranged in celebration of their victory over Fomortiis was about to begin. Arm in arm, they arrived in the massive dining hall, to an uproarious cheer hailing the heroes of Magvel.

Eirika felt a swell of pride in her as she and Seth joined Ephraim at the end of the table with the other royals -- namely Mansel himself, L'Arachel, Innes and Tana. As usual, Joshua refused to be acknowledged as a prince, insisting that until he got back home to Jehanna Hall, he was just a mercenary.

One of the first things Ephraim did was formally announce Eirika and Seth's engagement, which was met with cheers and a chorus of congratulations. Eirika noted with pride that Seth seemed to be encouraged by the enthusiastic positive reaction the news got, pulling her closer in a mild public display of his affection. Tana then tackled Eirika and hugged her joyously, stating over and over that she was so happy that her best friend had found love with someone so perfect for her.

The next order of business for Ephraim was to announce that his retinue would be leaving the next morning at dawn, so anyone who wished to travel with the Renais knights would have to be ready to leave at first light. Pontifex Mansel reiterated that everyone was welcome to stay as long as they wished, but that he understood that they wanted to get home to their countries to help begin the rebuilding.

Then the feast began in earnest. Even after the main courses were finished and most of the food consumed, the celebrating continued unabated as the wine began to flow. Eirika settled herself beside Seth, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm so happy right now," she said softly.

"Mm. I'm glad you are, my dear." He let out a muffled grunt, taking a leisurely pull at a goblet of wine. "That being said, I will be glad to get home."

"I'd never have taken you for a wine-drinker, General!" Forde teased gently.

"Are you kidding? I grew up among wine aficionados. One of my sisters almost married a vinter."

"I didn't know you had sisters, General Seth!" Franz propped his elbows on the table, his green eyes sparkling with interest. "What are they like? Are they like you?"

The paladin closed his eyes against a painful memory; "No, they were nothing like me."

"Were?" Franz didn't miss the sadness that had chanced across Seth's face. "Oh my... are they...?"

"Mm. They are both deceased."

"Oh." Franz looked over at his brother, unsure what to do; Forde shrugged and turned to Vanessa, who was seated beside him, and started chatting her up. Franz made a distressed face at his brother's lack of empathy. "Er, I'm sorry, General. I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known."

"It's all right, Franz. It's been a long time. One died in a bandit attack on her village; the other died of complications from childbirth. Her baby didn't survive either. And if my father had been alive at the time, I do not think Sarah's husband would have survived either." The paladin slowly opened his eyes and watched intently as the wine in his goblet swirled lazily.

"So..." Kyle inquired tentatively, "do you have any family still living, General?"

"No, I do not."

"Wow. I'm really sorry to hear that, General Seth... I'd offer my condolences, except that it seems to me like it'd be really pretentious of me to do so." The knight looked unhappy. "I... am very lucky to have my family still alive and intact."

Seth's eyes moved over to look at him; "It's not pretentious at all and I appreciate the sentiment. It has been a long time for all of them. My mother was the last one to leave me, and it has been a decade since then." He shook his head, and a slow, sardonic smile spread. "I haven't talked of any of them for so long, and now all of a sudden, everyone around me wants to know about them! Shame on all of you, taking advantage of the fact that I haven't had good wine in years!"

"Ahaha!" Forde slapped his hand on the table in glee. "So even the illustrious Silver Knight can have his tongue loosened by alcohol! So you are an ordinary man after all!"

Seth looked mildly affronted; "When have I _ever_ claimed otherwise, Forde?"

Ephraim put his hand up in a mollifying gesture. "Seth, I've been trying to recall. Your father was a knight before you, right?"

"Yes, he was."

"Was he anything like you?"

"Other than being a paladin, no. He was brash and reckless as a knight. He was best known for his skill with the javelin."

"Aha!" Garcia snapped his fingers. "I know who you're talking about! Sir Adam, the Javelin Knight. Didn't they say he could out-javelin any Frelian pegasus knight?"

Seth gave the wizened old warrior a rare smile; "It wasn't just a saying, Garcia. He actually could. He was disappointed that I never picked up his skill with the javelin, even though I'm not really built for that type of lance."

The atmosphere around the table changed subtly as the older soldiers all stared at the red-haired paladin.

"You mean to tell me that Sir Adam was _your father_ , General Seth?" Gilliam said, his eyes wide. At Seth's nod, he sat back in his chair with a sigh of appreciation. "Wow. No wonder you've been the Knight General for as long as you have. Funny, though, that you're related to him, because you look nothing like him."

"Did you know him?" Innes looked at his armored knight.

"Not personally, but I remember meeting him in scrimmages. None of our pegasus knights could out-throw him. My sister was a pegasus knight at the time -- she's since retired from the saddle to have a family -- and she was impressed with him."

"I remember him too," Father Moulder said. "I believe Prince Innes was just a baby when I met Sir Adam. King Hayden was impressed with him. More so than King Fado was, if I recall correctly."

Seth snorted softly; "That's because my father had a nasty temper and was a bit of a troublemaker, and His Majesty was well aware of that. No, I take after my mother."

Joshua propped his chin on his folded hands; "Now that I think of it, General Seth, you look like you're from Jehanna. Red hair is pretty common in Jehanna, after all."

Seth looked annoyed; "Why is everyone so interested in my personal history? What is in this wine, anyway?" He set the goblet down and, when a passing servant offered to refill it, shook his head emphatically. "Enough about me."

Garcia, however, wasn't about to let it go just yet; "As I recall, Mistress Evelina was very pretty. Red-haired too, now that I think of it, so I can see where you take after her, General." Then his eyes clouded a bit. "Didn't she pass away the same year that my Risa did?"

"She did," Seth said with a reluctant sigh. It seemed he wasn't going to get out of admitting some things about his background. "I think it was the same illness."

"Probably was. That was a nasty epidemic, killed a lot of people that year. I remember the medic telling me it was a miracle that Ross didn't contract it." Garcia looked over at his teenaged son, obliviously chowing down on dessert, and his expression saddened just a tiny bit more; "When I think about how close I came to losing everything, even my boy... That's why I left the military, you see. I realized that I'd been given a second chance, by my son being spared that plague, and I wasn't about to throw that away."

Seth gave the wizened old soldier a solemn salute; "On behalf of Renais' military, I thank you for your efforts in this war. Your help was invaluable."

"None of that, General," Garcia said with a knowing smile. "You're still a greater man than me."

The paladin looked angry for a moment, before his expression relaxed into resignation; "Please stop saying such rubbish. I am no paragon of knighthood. I am just a devoted knight of Renais, and I'll thank everyone to stop putting me on a pedestal. That includes _you_ , Your Highness." He shot a look at Ephraim, who grinned.

Kyle swished the wine in his goblet around a bit, clearly uncomfortable; "You know, General... perhaps I'm a bit old for this kind of thing, but you're kind of my role model. I think it's perfectly normal for someone like me to look up to someone like you."

"There's looking up to your commanding officer, and then there's idolizing. I don't see you doing the latter, Kyle."

"I can see why a knight would look up to you, though," Lute, the young sage from Za'ha, said pragmatically. She was just a few seats down from where Kyle was sitting. Sitting next to her was her long-time friend and companion, the Za'ha temple monk Artur. "After all, the only knight I can think of better than Sir Kyle is you, General Seth."

There it was again. Eirika noticed a subtle change in the mild-mannered orange-haired young bishop when Lute praised Kyle's skill. Artur was far too gentle and even-tempered to actually lash out, but he positively oozed jealousy. Belatedly, he radiated a mild self-loathing for succumbing to such envy.

Cormag was sitting directly across from Artur and noticed the change as well; "Say, are you okay there, Brother Artur? You look a little green around the gills, as the saying goes."

"I think I'm okay," the young holy man said glumly. "I just... don't feel like talking right now. Hmm, actually, you're right, my stomach is not very happy right now. Maybe I should see if I have some sort of antacid in my belongings." He stood up abruptly, shaking out his robes, and beat a hasty retreat, leaving the others around him confused. Lute scratched at her temple in concern, but then turned her attention to the conversation at hand.

"Hmph," Cormag said, slouching back in his chair. "Miss Lute, perhaps I shouldn't pry, but don't you find his reaction a little baffling?"

"Well, yes, but he's always intrigued me. My hobby is monk-watching because he's so fascinating."

"Isn't _that_ reaction a little out of the ordinary, though?"

"What are you hinting at?" She squinted at him.

"I'm no expert on you mage types or the cleric types, but that looked like a different kind of green to me."

"You've lost me," Lute retorted. "He didn't look green at all. Even his mantle isn't green -- it's blue. If you're looking for green, you should be looking at Sir Kyle or something."

Seated next to Cormag was the former Grado royal court mage, Knoll, a shaman of considerable skill. The silver-haired shaman chuckled softly; "I believe he means that Brother Artur is green with envy, Miss Lute."

"Envy? What for?"

"Well, it seems to me that whenever you speak of or to Sir Kyle, Brother Artur becomes quite jealous. In so much as I've seen in recent interactions between the three of you, anyway." The shaman held up his hands in a helpless gesture. "I only speak of what I've seen, mind you. I can't speak for what he really thinks, but he certainly seems quite jealous to me."

"That's ridiculous. Artur should have no reason to be jealous of me."

Cormag snorted in amusement at how willing to misinterpret things Lute seemed to be. "That's not... naah, nevermind."

Eirika, finding her curiosity at war with her concern, excused herself from the table, claiming a need to use the privy. But once out of the dining hall, she took a sharp right and went down another corridor on instinct.

There, she saw the monk ahead of her as she'd intuited. He was standing by a pillar decorated with candle sconces. His entire posture radiated misery.

"Are you unwell?" She asked tentatively as she approached. He started in surprise at her voice.

"Oh! Your Highness! You do me too much honor, inqu--"

"Stop that, Artur," she interrupted. "We aren't back in Renais yet, you don't have to use such formality with me right now. I'm worried about you; you left in such a hurry. What's wrong?"

"I... just...." He was clearly at odds with himself, not wanting to lie but not really wanting to admit the truth either. Then his shoulders slumped wearily; "I'm too transparent, aren't I?"

"Something's wrong. Several of us noticed that you got all worked up when Lute spoke of Kyle."

The monk flinched, his face a mask of melancholy. "Well... I... I thought..." His voice hitched and he shut his mouth and turned away.

"You love her, don't you."

"Of course I do," he snapped, before falling silent again. After a moment, he elaborated hesitantly. "We talked... I thought she wanted to get married. I certainly do. But... the more I watch her with that knight, the more I realize... I've nothing to offer her... And I don't know that she really wants _me_. I don't know that she fully realizes how much my feelings for her have changed... she's not just my best friend anymore..." A moment later, his demeanor changed as he got a handle on his emotions. "I'm so sorry, Princess. I shouldn't be unloading all this on you, especially in light of your wonderful news. Please, just pretend none of this happened. I'm sure that Lute and I will work something out, I just need to get a hold of myself. I'm clearly more traumatized by this whole war than I thought I was. Seeing the Demon King resurrected like that has shaken my faith, I think."

Eirika felt bad that she could offer him no genuine words of comfort, but not really knowing the situation between Lute and Kyle -- though, given what she knew of Kyle, she suspected that there was nothing really going on there -- she couldn't really reassure him. "We are all traumatized by what we've endured, Artur. I'm sure even Lute has been traumatized by what she's been through." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go back. Others are concerned about you and your abrupt departure."

However, they had barely turned around when Artur froze in place, his eyes trained ahead at two approaching forms. The smaller one was clearly Lute -- no one was as tiny as that fiesty little mage -- but the taller one was only identifiable as a knight. Eirika recognized the knight instantly -- she'd spent enough time with him over the years and especially recently to know it was her beloved Seth -- but with the backlighting making the approaching figure nothing more than a silhouette, it was clear that Artur assumed it was Kyle.

"I hope there's a good reason for this, sir," Lute's voice floated up the hallway toward them, the irritation in her voice almost overpowering.

Eirika nudged Artur to keep him from trying to hide. "It's just Seth and Lute," she said gently. "Probably concerned about you as well."

As the two approaching figures passed through a pool of light, the candle-light reflected off Seth's scarlet hair and silver armor, and the tension in Artur's shoulders eased. Eirika waited in silence, as something was clearly about to happen.

"Okay," Lute said as she and Seth came to a halt nearby. "What's going on, General?"

"I think that question is better suited to be asked to him," Seth said calmly, gesturing with his chin at Artur.

The sage looked over at her childhood friend; "All right, then. Artur, what's going on? I thought you had a sour stomach, but everyone's saying I did something wrong."

"I said no such thing!" Seth muttered under his breath as he beckoned Eirika over to him. "Nor did anyone else." Then he raised his voice to a normal level. "Princess Eirika, I think we should leave them alone to sort out their issue."

She nodded in agreement and willingingly followed him down the hallway a bit to give the two magic users a little privacy.

"Did you follow me?" She inquired with a smile.

"Not precisely. I followed a gut hunch," he replied, taking her arm and tucking it into his own in a chivalrous gesture. "I saw you leave and had the suspicion you were going to help Brother Artur. I just had a hunch that Lute should see what was going on. It looks to me like you were correct earlier, my princess."

"I was? About what?"

"You mentioned Artur having eyes only for Lute. It seems to be true, and mutual. Lute mentioned off-handedly that she and Artur are planning to marry."

"That's what Artur said, but he also seems to be doubting things; apparently he's afraid she isn't taking him seriously or doesn't understand."

Seth looked contemplative; "I did not get that feeling from her, that she does not understand; quite the opposite, in fact. She seems to understand the gravity of marriage more than I would have thought for someone her age."

"Gravity?" Eirika's brow folded a bit in concern at such a severe word used as a description. "Marriage is a grave situation? Seth... you seem to have a very unpleasant view of the institution of marriage. Are you sure you want...?"

He shook his head dismissively; "My apologies, milady, I did not mean to sound so negative. What I meant is that many young people her age do not realize how much work a relationship takes, and how marriage is a lifelong commitment to maintaining a relationship with someone you may not know very well or may not be very compatible with."

She tilted her head in concern; "Seth..." She didn't like how negative his view of marriage seemed. Did he really think of being married as a burden? Had Orson's treachery -- and the presumed reason for it -- really affected him that much?

"Milady, please understand that I am somewhat more jaded than you are because I am a knight. We lead largely solitary lives; we are beholden to the crown, and must place that above all other things. Our chivalric vows define our existence. Things like love and marriage are distant concepts to us." He put a hand at her jaw. "My dearest, I ask your forgiveness and understanding that I am not as optimistic as you. This does not mean I do not wish to be wed to you, but I cannot bring myself to be energetic about something that has been so foreign to me for so long. I have seen far too many young lives ruined by a bad decision of whom to marry." He looked uncomfortable. "Namely, my sister."

There it was, the kernel of vulnerable truth that was couched in shielding, diverting language. She understood now what his problem was: he was afraid of seeing other people suffer as his sister had suffered. She was fairly certain that there was grief and agony there that he had refused to face for a very long time. Perhaps he was feeling a trifle guilty that he would be married soon when his sister had suffered a clearly bad marriage. And yet... his sister had been dead for a long time, which meant that she had been much younger than he was now when she had married.

Eirika decided abruptly to put that out of her mind. It was none of her concern right this instant. Seth would come to terms with his past heartaches on his own time. She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly; "Seth, it's all right. You don't need to say any more. I think that I understand. I just want you to know that I will strive to be a good wife to you, and I have no doubts that you will be a good husband to me. We are well matched, I'm certain of that." She glanced back at Lute and Artur, who were standing very close to each other. Then she looked up at her paladin and smiled softly; "I think they'll be just fine by themselves. Let's go back to the dining hall."


	7. Chapter 7

Eirika scrutinized herself in the mirror. She wasn't normally a vain person about her looks, but today was a very special day, and she wanted to look perfect. She carefully turned in front of the mirror, going over every fold and fall of the fabric of her gown, in particular the tatting on the train, since it seemed determined to not lay right.

The gown was very old, a family treasure that had miraculously been spared when the castle was plundered and looted after the fall, and was a soft creme color, made of fine silk imported through Carcino with finely tatted lace cascading down the modest train from the waist. It had taken some alteration to get it to fit her lanky, angular frame. But it was a beautiful bridal gown and she was pleased with how it made her look and feel. Today was important, for it was her wedding day.

"Princess Eirika, you are simply breathtaking," Neimi said fondly, stepping back to admire the princess's appearance. Accomplished with a needle and thread as well as the bow and arrow, the young ranger was there to help Eirika prepare for the most important day of her young life. "The General will not be able to take his eyes off you, I'm sure of it."

She flushed happily as she looked over at the archer who had become a good friend in the months following the end of the War of the Stones; "Thank you, Neimi." She looked back at the mirror. She was so intent on finding any flaws in her reflection that she didn't realize until Neimi gently pulled her hand away from the train that she'd been plucking at it.

"Milady, don't fuss with it." Neimi grinned. "You're only going to make it worse. It lays just fine, even if you think it's not perfect. By the time you get down the aisle, it'll be displaced enough that forcing it anywhere won't matter. No one else will notice, I promise you."

"Sorry. Gah! I'm so nervous! I feel so silly being nervous, when it feels like I've wanted this for so long now..."

"It's perfectly understandable that you're nervous, Princess," the archer said with an encouraging smile. "Oh, and don't tell me not to cry at the ceremony! I've already got Colm telling me he'll smack me if I cry, but it won't be the same kind of tears, I promise!"

Eirika laughed awkwardly; "I can't even guarantee that _I_ won't cry, Neimi. You tell Colm that if he smacks you for crying at my wedding, he'll have to answer to both me _and_ to Ephraim for it. This is kind of a bittersweet day for me, you know. I mean, I want this, but I wish the circumstances were better, and I wish my parents were here to watch."

"He was kind of joking, Princess," Neimi said with a smile. "But I'll tell him, just so he can squirm about it! I think he's more intimidated by General Seth than by Prince Ephraim anyway."

Eirika laughed at that, and turned her attention to her hair, which was determined to escape the bejeweled clasp. It was exasperating in its irony. For years she hadn't cared at all about her hair (which Tana had repeatedly expressed frustration at) so for the last month or so she'd tried to undo years of neglect and poor care so that it would be decent for today. It was only partly working.

There was a tentative knock at the door. Amelia poked her head into the room; "Princess? Are you ready? Father Moulder would like to begin soon."

Eirika rubbed her hands together nervously, looking over at Neimi; "Well. Here goes..." She picked up a small bouquet of flowers and took a deep breath. "I can do this."

Amelia and Neimi both grinned at her; "You'll be fine, Princess." Amelia opened the door for the radiant bride and stepped aside to let her out of the room. As Eirika took a deep breath and stepped forward toward her new life, Amelia said in a low voice to Neimi. "Franz tells me that the General is a nervous wreck and has been all day."

"Good thing for him that it's not even quite noon yet," Neimi said with a grin. "Princess Eirika has been a basket-case all morning too. I think she's afraid of making a silly mistake."

Prince Ephraim was there to greet his sister, dressed in formal robes befitting his rank as future king (he insisted on postponing the official coronation until after Renais was stabilized).

"W-wow, Eirika," he said, his eyes huge. "You sure clean up nice, don't you?"

"Brother!" She flushed in irritation. "What a thing to say to me now!"

"Come on, now," he cajoled. "You've always been somewhat tomboyish around me, you can't expect me to notice how pretty you really are until you actually decide to show it off!"

"Ephraim, please," she snapped, turning a brighter red. "I'm already so nervous I can barely walk for fear of tripping over my own feet. You're not helping!"

He laughed heartily, plucked a bloom from her bouquet and tucked the flower into her hair. "My baby sister is getting married."

"Baby sister? You know, you aren't even all of _an hour_ older than me."

He smiled and took her arm formally; "Fair enough, dear sister. Let's go. We shouldn't make Seth wait any longer than necessary." He patted her arm as he said this. "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am for you, Eirika. He really is the perfect match for you, I think, and I'm glad you'll be happy with him."

"Thank you, Ephraim," she replied, still aflush. "It means a lot to both of us that you approve."

"Approve?" He chuckled. "Who pushed the two of you together because you were both too chicken to do it yourselves? I think that how I feel goes far beyond approval."

She cuffed him gently, glad for the banter, which kept her from fretting herself into a mess. She certainly wasn't regretting anything, nor getting cold feet, but she was afraid of doing something foolish and embarrassing herself or Seth inadvertantly. Ephraim paced at her side, a calm and reassuring presence as they strode through the corridors to the castle temple, where their friends were waiting for them, along with the priest who would conduct the ceremony, and of course Eirika's intended. At this point, mere minutes separated them from becoming husband and wife.

It was a very small, private ceremony, cobbled together in some haste, attended by the Knights of Renais themselves, some castle staff, the other War of the Stones companions from Renais, and two representatives from Frelia, one of whom was conducting the ceremony. They hadn't been home in Castle Renais more than a month now, though it had been nearly five since they'd left Rausten Court. Once Ephraim had gotten the bandit problem reasonably under control, he'd traveled to Frelia with Seth and Eirika to treat with King Hayden about marrying Tana. The King of Frelia had been a bit skeptical at first of Ephraim's motives but had agreed to the marriage, though he insisted on at least six months before the wedding took place.

When told of Eirika and Seth's engagement, King Hayden had expressed delight at the news, and had advised them to wed soon, before the country was stabilized, if they wished to avoid much trouble with the Renais nobles. He had pointed out that while the nobles were busy with stabilizing their homes, they would not have the time or energy to protest a wedding they might not approve of, and if the marriage had already taken place by the time they had the time and energy to protest, there would be little they could do. Ephraim had agreed, and had arranged for Father Moulder's assistance in planning the wedding. Flash forward to today, where they were making it happen. Seth was being given two days (including today) of "vacation" for his wedding, but after that, he had to resume his duties like the other knights. Forde had gotten in late last night from his patrol, and Kyle and Franz were prepared to leave after the ceremony for their respective patrols. Amelia was stationed in the castle itself as an attendant and bodyguard to Ephraim and Eirika, mostly because she was unfamiliar with Renais terrain and geography and was likely to get lost if she went on a patrol by herself. Once they had time to show her the lay of the land, she would assume routine patrols like the rest. Meanwhile, she earned her keep protecting their sovereigns.

Ephraim shouldered open the door to the temple, and the two of them stepped through into the makeshift chapel. There was a collective intake of breath as the bride appeared. The prince escorted his sister down the short aisle to the altar, and handed her off to the red-haired paladin waiting there. Eirika very nearly tripped over the hem of her gown as she ascended the steps to the altar, but Seth managed to smoothly intervene and prevented her from blundering by manuevering her around as if the movements were choreographed. Exactly how he did it, she never did figure out, but he did it.

As they took their places before the altar, Father Moulder gave them a paternal smile.

"Are we ready to begin?" He inquired of the bridal couple. At their assent, he began the ceremony without delay. Eirika would later regret to some degree that she didn't pay better attention to the actual ceremony, not because she was bored, but because the overwhelming magnitude of everything she'd been through this past year or so just pressed down on her mind and made concentrating on Moulder's speech almost impossible, due to the calm, almost hypnotic cadence of the priest's voice. The impact of her father's death and the events that followed weighed heavily on her mind even now... especially now... here... in this temple, one of the last places she'd been with her father prior to the attack on Castle Renais that ultimately claimed King Fado's life... if she thought back a bit, she could still recall that time with startling clarity, when she'd approached her father while he was in prayer at the shrine altar, intent on making him allow her to go to Grado to find out why its armies were haranguing their people. She'd been convinced she could reach Lyon and make him see reason though Ephraim hadn't returned from his sortie. But before she could even launch into her carefully rehearsed speech to persuade her father to let her go to Grado, Seth had burst into the temple and reported that Grado's imperial army was before the gates of the castle, intent on attacking the castle directly, and had all but commanded King Fado to retreat to the throne room, where the knights would be able to defend him better.

She felt a bit of pressure squeezing on her palm, and her thoughts dashed forward to the here-and-now. Seth was standing across from her, clasping her hand across the altar. One look into those familiar reddish-brown eyes and she knew that he understood what she was thinking, and was trying to pull her out of that memory. This was neither the time nor the place for such reminiscing. Her heart swelled with affection for him. He was always watching out for her, it seemed. He rarely tried to force her to do anything -- and when he did, it was usually in an emergency, for her own safety -- but he was always vigilant, aware of her.

The timing was remarkable, as Moulder had reached the vows point of the ceremony. Pulling herself together, she followed along as the Frelian priest led the two of them through their marriage vows to each other. Eirika's vision blurred as she vowed to love, honor, cherish and support Seth for the rest of their lives, and Seth's voice caught a bit as he in turn vowed the same for her. They exchanged simple silver rings with an additional vow, and then Moulder proudly pronounced them husband and wife. The moment he said as much was the moment Eirika lost control of her emotions and tears started running down her cheeks. When Moulder instructed Seth to kiss his bride, the paladin let out a soft chuckle as he reached up and brushed the tears away from her cheeks before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. A cheer went up from their audience.

"Well, my darling, it's official," he said tenderly as they began the descent back down the aisle together. Then he raised her hand to his mouth and placed a chivalrous kiss to the back of it. "Here's to a long and happy life together, Eirika."

She didn't trust herself to be able to speak without sobbing at the moment, so overcome was she with emotion, and so she nodded mutely and gave him a smile.

Ephraim intercepted them at the end of the aisle, giving Eirika an emphatic hug and clapping Seth companionably across the shoulders.

"Well done, pup," a graveled old voice said from behind the prince as a wizened old knight stepped forward. His hair was pure white and his back was stooped a bit with age, yet he still moved with surprising grace and agility for someone who had a bad back and couldn't sit a horse for longer than half an hour.

Sir Justin, also known as the Cobalt Knight, was Seth's predecessor, the previous Knight General, and the longest-serving Knight General in the history of Renais. He had retired when age and arthritis took their toll on his ability to fight, and had taken up residence in Sarazen, a town near the border of Renais and Carcino. Upon returning to Castle Renais, Ephraim and Seth had managed to convince the old retired General to return to service as a weaponsmaster, training the new recruits, since Seth himself wouldn't have the time or resources to train all their new ranks, because the veteran knights still living would be hard pressed taking care of duties with their depleted numbers. Justin had once trained Seth, and knew how to drill youth in the ways of weaponsry despite his age and poor physical condition.

The Cobalt Knight then grinned; "You did much better than your poor idiotic father at _his_ wedding."

Seth blinked, taken aback. "What? What did my father do?"

"Ah, the illustrious Javelin Knight. Could out-javelin a FalcoKnight even when he was half-drunk." Justin snorted. "Adam had too much to drink the night before. His fellow knights took him out carousing, and he wound up twelve sheets to the wind. Nearly overslept on the wedding day, arrived all disheveled, and was so hungover that he tripped while walking toward the altar and planted himself face-first into the floor."

"Yikes, sounds like your father was worse than Forde!" Ephraim said with a laugh and a grin.

"Hey!" Forde protested from where he was setting up an easel; he'd offered to do the couple's wedding portrait for them (Kyle was convinced that Forde had offered as a way to get out of doing real work for a little while). "I don't drink that much, you know!"

"No, but I've heard about _your_ exploits, boyo," Justin said sharply to the blond knight. "I'll have to beat that kind of behavior out of you myself, since clearly the pup can't do it himself."

Forde looked nervously around.

Kyle chuckled as he presented himself before the newlyweds, saluting Seth and bowing before Eirika; "My apologies, General, Princess, but I need to go. I have a long ride ahead of me."

"Have a safe journey, Kyle" Eirika said sincerely.

"Come home safely," Seth added, returning the salute crisply.

Franz was next to present himself before them, for the same reason. "General, Princess Eirika, I have to leave as well. Congratulations on your wedding, though!"

Eirika responded on impulse and put her arms around the young paladin, giving him a brief hug; "A safe journey to you too, Franz."

Franz blushed a bit in delight that he had gotten such a response from the princess, and saluted her smartly as he stepped away; "I'll be back in no time, Princess Eirika!" He grinned a bit scandalously; "Please take good care of our General for us, won't you? Don't wear him out!"

"Oh get out of here, you brat!" Seth gave him an affectionate shove. "You've been around your brother too much lately!"

Laughing, the young paladin hoisted his lance-holster and sword scabbard over his shoulder and took off down the corridor, headed for the stables.

One by one, the guests gave the bridal couple their congratulations and blessings. Eirika was especially pleased to see the other newlyweds, Lute and Artur, there to congratulate them. The two magic-users had wed the week before, after coming to Castle Renais to serve as part of the castle's defense. The temple in Za'ha had refused to allow Artur to marry and continue service with them, so he had accepted Ephraim's offer to tend the castle's temple, and Lute was put in charge of the castle's library archive. Though the location they now lived was different from before, their lives were largely unchanged by the war, except of course for the fact that they were now married.

Tana practically mauled Eirika in her excitement, enthusing ecstatically about how happy she was to see her best friend happily married. Unfortunately, she and Father Moulder would have to depart soon.

It was a meager reception at best, with no real celebration involved, due to the speed with which the wedding itself had been pulled together, but they had decided to have a real celebration of their marriage with their friends once Renais was stabilized. The wedding for Ephraim and Tana would be followed by a dual-reception, celebrating both twins' marriages.

Once it was over, once Forde had gotten the portrait mostly done and when they were alone in the chapel with Ephraim and Justin, Seth looked down at Eirika with tired eyes; "Well, my darling... now what?"

"I think you should take your new bride home," Justin said brusquely. "The two of you deserve some time alone, don't you?"

"But we _are_ home," Eirika replied, not quite picking up on the loaded meaning of the old knight's words.

"I mean your rooms. Surely you don't sleep here in this temple, do you? Or were you planning on putting on a show for everyone in the castle?"

"Sir Justin, please!" Seth turned red at the implication, and after a moment Eirika did as well as she realized what Justin was telling them to go and do. It was a measure of how tired she was after all the nerves and stress leading up to today's ceremony that she hadn't even considered that the two of them still had to consummate their new marriage when considering what Justin was saying.

"You kids are young. Go take care of it, why don't you?" Justin flapped a hand dismissively. Eirika noticed that Ephraim was trying very hard to not be there.

"As you command, Sir Justin." Seth responded by sweeping Eirika up into his arms and carrying his bride toward the stairs.

 

* * *

Eirika awoke from an impromptu catnap in weakening daylight, to find a dozing Seth curled around her. The bed was warm and comfortable, the feel of bare flesh against bare flesh was pleasant, and she stretched languidly, turning carefully in his embrace. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she'd barely eaten a thing all day.

She smiled to herself as she fluttered her lips against his forehead. For all that Seth, the Silver Knight, was a capable soldier and confident commander, he was a very awkward and nervous lover. Their first few rounds of lovemaking had been hesitant and nervous, awkward but earnest. However, she found it to be incredibly endearing, because once he got used to what he was doing, he became very adept at making her feel good. He was highly attentive to her needs and desires.

He stirred in her embrace, blinking his eyes open sleepily; "What time is it, Eirika?"

"I'm pretty sure it's evening. It looks like the sun is starting to set."

"Mm, good." He shifted around and pulled her close, nibbling at her throat. "Still plenty of time left before I have to get back to work."

"Slight problem, darling," she said with a grin, gently pushing him away with a rueful smile.

"What's that?"

"I'm hungry. Very hungry. I've barely eaten anything all day. I require food to keep going."

"Now that you mention it," he sat up a bit, stretching, "I'm rather peckish myself."

She couldn't help herself; she giggled like an immature teenaged girl. " _Peckish_ , huh?"

He blinked at her, and smiled sheepishly; "Eirika, darling, please."

She leaned close, pressing against him and resting her hand coquettishly on his thigh. "Sorry, my dear husband, I'm just feeling really, really good right now." She nibbled at his ear.

He took a deep, calming breath, shivering pleasantly as she did this. "You're not helping get food into our stomachs, you know, by tempting me so." He leaned over and pinned her to the bed. "I'm half tempted to have my way with you right here and now."

She grinned and pushed against his shoulders with her hands. "Not right now, you silly bundle of energy!"

"You really shouldn't tease me like that, Eirika," he said in a husky voice as he pulled away from her and got control of his impulses.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, realizing that she had in fact teased him. "I love you, Seth. I promise, once I've had something to eat, I'll make it up to you."

He smiled at her; "You don't have to make anything up to me, my dearest. You don't owe me anything. Just, please, don't make a habit of teasing me like that."

She responded by sliding out of the bed and hurrying over to the wardrobe, shivering slightly in the chill air. She pulled a nightgown and a robe out, sliding into the gown and swinging the robe around herself. Turning to her husband, she gave him a radiant smile; "I'll go fetch us something to eat."

To her surprise, he had pulled on some linen trousers and was shrugging into a fleece robe. "Not by yourself, darling. I'll go with you."

For just a moment she was annoyed; "Seth, I don't need you to protect me in my own --"

He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her; "That's not the idea. I _want_ to go with you, Eirika. There's no sense in making you play servant to me." Then he brought his hand down to cup her chin, pressing a sultry kiss to her lips. "Besides, I like being with you. I might as well spend as much time at your side as possible, since once tomorrow is over, I'll have to be back at work and who knows how long I may have to be away from your side?" His other hand slid alluringly down her shoulder and maneuvered around to slide inside her fleece robe, playing with the soft woven fabric of her nightgown.

She sidestepped his groping hand and gave him a knowing smile; "Food first. Fun later. Let's go, my darling." She tied her robe's sash, slid her feet into slippers, and headed toward the door. He grumbled in good nature and followed her.

They arrived in the dining hall to find Ephraim, Justin and Amelia there, clustered around a table.

"See, this is Border Mulan. It's a fairly straight shot from Castle Renais to Border Mulan. And from there, Castle Frelia is a fairly linear path as well." Ephraim was gesturing at a map spread out on the table. Justin looked amused, while Amelia was concentrating almost comically on the map.

"Don't worry," Justin said, "you might get lost if you went by yourself, lassie, but Prince Ephraim has his father's sense of direction. He also knows the area quite well. Just follow him and watch his back and you won't be lost."

"What's going on?" Eirika inquired as she and Seth drew closer.

"Well, hello there!" Ephraim looked up in surprise. "Didn't expect to see either of you for a bit."

"Yes, well, we are human, my prince," Seth said with a smile. "Neither of us has had much to eat all day."

"Kitchen's occupied at the moment," Justin said. "You'll just have to wait a bit, pup."

There was a clattering cacophony from the kitchen, the sound of multiple pots and pans hitting the ground, that made everyone flinch.

"Sounds like he's having issues in there," Ephraim said with a wry smile.

Seth gently tapped the map on the table; "So why the map, Prince Ephraim?"

"Ah, yes, since you're here, I can tell you about this." The prince seemed distracted. "I just received a message from a Frelian pegasus knight. Prince Innes wants to meet with me at Border Mulan tomorrow. I'm riding out first thing tomorrow morning to meet him there, and hope to be back home by evening, depending on how long the meeting takes."

Seth raised an eyebrow; "You're not riding there by yourself, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Ephraim sighed, "even though I see no reason why I need an escort to go visit Frelia's border."

Seth gave the prince a firm look; "No matter how strong and capable you are, my prince, you are not invincible, and we need you more than ever."

"Yes, yes, I know. That's why Amelia's going with me. I was just showing her the route we'll be taking. I trust Justin can handle Castle Renais for a day?"

Justin looked offended. "Oye, royal whelp, just cuz I'm too bent in the spine to ride alongside you to Frelia don't mean I can't man the defenses here. I can still command the pups running around this jumped-up cattery."

"Cattery?" Seth raised his eyebrows, but left it at that when Eirika nudged him in warning. Justin was cantankerous and brusque, bordering on downright rude. He was especially critical of Seth, insisting that the redhaired General was nothing like he himself had been as the General of the Knights of Renais and was therefore in need of "shaping up." Thus, the old codger often needled Seth with the express intent of provoking him, with stinging commentary that implied that the current General was incompetent, even though everyone knew Seth was more than competent in his job.

"What about Forde?" Eirika inquired of her brother. "He's still around, isn't he?"

"He is," Ephraim replied, "but he's got to leave tomorrow to head to Serafew to meet up with Kyle and see if backup is needed."

Eirika made a sympathetic face, and then turned her attention toward the kitchen door as her stomach made a case for her to hurry up and get something to eat. She looked up at Seth, who was apparently distracted by something Justin had just said. She nudged him to get his attention and gestured toward the kitchen door. He gave her a distracted nod in acknowledgement of her unvoiced statement. She had a moment of misgiving at the look in his eyes, but chose to leave him to whatever he was considering doing.

As she approached the door to the kitchen, she heard voices on the other side, voices she was pretty sure she recognized. Thus, when she pushed the door open, she was both unsurprised and surprised by turns at what she saw.

Artur was standing by the oven, with flour in his bright orange hair and a very annoyed expression on his gentle face, while his wife was nearby, doubled over in laughter. Eirika had suspected that they were in the kitchen, having heard their voices, but she hadn't expected to see them like this.

"What... are you doing?" She asked, curious and flabbergasted.

"Oh, good evening, Princess," the young bishop said, flicking the white powder from his hair. "I'm just, er, trying to learn how to cook, since I can't rely on Lute to be able to do it properly."

"Oh whatever!" The sage chortled. "Are you kidding? I can cook just fine, and I certainly don't drop pots and pans or end up with flour all over me!"

"Darling, you use way too many spices, and you get sidetracked so easily, you tend to burn what you're cooking."

Eirika covered her mouth to hide her laughter, but the two magic users knew she was laughing all the same, and to his credit, Artur didn't take offense. "So what brings you here, Princess?"

"We both got a bit hungry. We've barely eaten anything all day. I was too nervous before the wedding, and afterwards... well, there wasn't much time, I guess." She managed to not blush.

"Sounds like you, Artur!" Lute said with a grin. "You were the same way for our wedding, despite my advising you to take it easy and make sure you had plenty to eat and drink before the ceremony! You just don't know how to take care of yourself, I swear."

"You aren't normal, Lute," her husband said with an affectionate snort. "You weren't the least bit nervous, obviously. I was a nervous wreck! Anyway," he turned his attention to Eirika, "I think there is some bread in the pantry."

She smiled in thanks to him and went to the pantry. She was too hungry to really converse with them, and she wanted to get back to bed soon. She owed Seth some intimacy to make up for teasing him, and frankly, she was eager to please him as much as he'd been pleasing her. Rummaging through the ice box, she pulled out some cream spread and a little bit of cheese, then took some of the bread from the pantry and headed out of the kitchen, bidding Lute and Artur good night. The two magic users warmly bid her good night as well, with Lute adding just a tiny bit of innuendo to her words.

Out in the dining hall, the atmosphere had become much more charged and hostile. Seth and Justin were glaring at each other, and Ephraim looked frustrated. Amelia looked like she was wishing desperately that she was anywhere but right there.

"I'll remind you, pup, that when I retired, he wasn't unhinged. He was a damned sight better than you are, much more capable of command, I'm convinced. More's the pity that he fell so hard from his grace."

Seth seemed to swell with anger; "His Majesty entrusted the Knights of Renais to me, Sir Justin. It does not matter what you think of me or my skills, nor what you thought of Sir Orson's abilities at the time. The fact remains that King Fado chose _me_ to lead his elite cavalry, and ultimately his entire military."

Justin put his hands on his hips in irritation; "Then why did you bother to remind me that Orson was my choice? You trying to needle me, pup? Cuz I guarantee you, I don't feel nearly as bad as you'd like me to. That was several years ago, and Orson _was_ the best paladin on the force. T'ain't my fault he turned out to be a dirty traitor. If anything, you should wonder about your own competence, that you allowed that traitor to escort our prince--"

"That's enough, Justin," Ephraim said suddenly, sharply. "Stop trying to make Seth feel worse than he already does about the whole issue. I'm just as much to blame as he is about what happened with Renais when Orson betrayed us. I'm the one who insisted on having Orson accompany me in my skirmishes. Father insisted that I take a paladin with me along with a formation of cavaliers and I trusted Orson even when in my heart I knew I shouldn't." Then he looked over at his Knight General; "And Seth, please, he's got a point. You didn't need to bring that up at all. There's no way any of us could have guessed that Orson would really betray us like that, especially not when Justin first retired. You really can't hold it against Justin that Orson proved to be untrustworthy in the end."

The paladin stiffly inclined his head; "My sincerest apologies, my prince. I am exhausted and not really in the right frame of mind for a battle of wits."

Justin grunted and informed Ephraim that he was going to go to bed now and asked the prince to be sure and ride safely to Border Mulan.

Eirika nudged Seth gently as she stopped at his side. When he looked down at her, his expression changed from anger to a sense of ennui. He put an arm around her and dropped a kiss on her forehead; "Let's go back, Eirika. I'm not in the mood to deal with that old codger." He dropped his voice down to a near-whisper as he moved his mouth over next to her ear; "I'd much rather 'deal' with you, my dearest."

She offered her husband some of the bread and cheese she'd scavenged from the kitchen. "Let's eat first, Seth. I told you, didn't I? Food first, fun later."

Seth blinked owlishly at her, and then cast a furtive glance at Ephraim, who once again looked like he was trying very hard to not be there, his face flushed a bit in embarrassment. She felt a tiny surge of malicious glee. Ephraim had always teased her about her prudishness and how easily she blushed; it was kind of nice to turn the tables on him, if only a little bit.

Then again, the look of alarm on Seth's face was something of a buzzkill on that. Perhaps she was so focused on turning the tables on her brother that she was overlooking the fact that she was being rather imprudent.

He took the proffered bread and cheese, keeping his arm firmly around her shoulders; "Come, darling, let's go back. We can eat on the way."

She agreed with nod and the two of them bid their good nights to Ephraim and Amelia. The prince did his best to not look at them, his cheeks flushed. Amelia was apparently too innocent -- or too distracted by concentrating on the map in front of her -- to notice the sexual undertones of what had just been said, as she didn't seem as embarrassed as Ephraim. Instead she gave Eirika a brief hug before realizing what she was doing and sheepishly bidding her good night.

As the two of them reached the stairs that led to their suite, she paused; "Seth... can I ask you something?"

"Certainly, my dearest. What's the matter?"

"You... don't get along with Sir Justin at all. Ever since he came back to the castle, the two of you have been at odds. It makes me wonder if bringing Justin here was such a wise idea. Why do the two of you not get along?"

Seth heaved a sigh; "I'm not really sure. He just doesn't like me, and I don't particularly like him. I don't happen to think he was all that great as a knight. He was a good General, I won't deny that. But his manner of command was very different from mine and he thinks that my method of command is inferior. I can't tell for certain why he dislikes me, but I suspect he holds my father's shenanigans over me, believes that fundamentally, it's a case of 'like father, like son.' I have tried very hard to shake off the mantle of my father's dubious legacy, but Justin seems determined to hold it against me." Then he put a hand on hers in emphasis. "But do not mistake his importance. I may not like him, but I can see that we need him right now. Eventually, I would like to see Kyle put in charge of training the new recruits -- he seems to have the patience and steadiness to handle clumsy recruits -- but right now I cannot justify taking him out of patrols for that purpose."

She sidled away and planted her hands on her hips, slightly irritated that he was digressing; "I wasn't meaning that I was planning to send him away. But you're a lot more hostile toward him than I recall seeing you to any other Knight of Renais. You're almost not yourself when you're around him."

"That would be because he has no respect for my command, and unfortunately, Prince Ephraim can't seem to rein him in either. He seems to think that because he outranked me once before, before he retired, therefore he does not have to respect my command now. And he has no respect for _me_."

She sighed; "Well, you don't exactly try to gain his respect. You let him bait you into things, you know."

He sighed as well, looking a bit unhappy. "I know that, darling. He brings out the worst in me. It bothers me that he can do that."

She tried another tactic to get him to open up; "You seem rather negative about your father. Was he really that bad of a knight?"

He flinched; "My father was a famous knight, well known and well loved by the people. He was brave and capable, and could do amazing things with his weapons. He could lob a javelin much further than anyone else in Renais, and with accuracy that would make a Frelian FalcoKnight jealous. He was brave enough to take on a whole troop of organized axe-wielding bandits, and often lucky enough to escape without serious injury. But he was a commander's nightmare. He was reckless and he didn't follow orders very well. He also had a drinking problem. General Justin hated him because he was so willful and stubborn. And the General has long held it against me, Sir Adam's only son."

She frowned slightly; "That doesn't sound like a good commander to me, you know. You say he was a good General, and yet you say he held against you the fact that your father was hard to control. A good commander should know that his soldiers are individuals and that just because two are related does not mean that they will behave or be effective in the same manner."

Seth shrugged; "I don't know. He is a brilliant tactician, possibly better than King Fado was, and he was peerless in uniting a disorganized unit. He was able to anticipate what my unpredictable father would do and make allowances for his recklessness, until my father started drinking heavily and showing up on the battlefield hung over. Not _drunk_ , but still with his judgment clouded by head pain. But I think that when my father died, General Justin assumed that I would end up being just like Sir Adam, and so when he himself retired, and King Fado overlooked his recommendations and appointed me, I think that Justin felt that Adam had 'won' in the end."

"Justin wanted Orson to lead, right?"

"Well, yes. Technically, the one everyone wanted to be the new General -- even I wanted it, personally -- was Sir Frederick, but Sir Frederick refused command, said he was best when he was at His Majesty's side and not out commanding a large army. Although the Knight General is usually stationed at the castle, to command everyone, there are still times when the Knight General must ride forth and lead the army from the front lines, and Sir Frederick was not one for leading on the front lines with the light cavalry. He was more effective from behind, driving the heavy cavalry forward. We all respected Sir Frederick so much that no one opposed him on it. Honestly, if Sir Frederick were still alive today, King Fado would still be alive as well. There's no way anyone -- not even Prince Lyon -- would be able to cut down His Majesty while Sir Frederick lived. But I digress. Anyway, since Frederick refused command, General Justin recommended Orson, but I think Frederick bent King Fado's ear and recommended me. I can't prove it, as Frederick never admitted as such, and he died a few months later when an assassin was discovered to be in Renais and targeting His Majesty himself. Frederick managed to rout the assassin but it cost him his life. Afterwards, I could never pluck up enough courage to ask King Fado to tell me why _I_ was picked. I didn't want to, as they say, look a gift horse in the mouth."

Eirika racked her brain to remember a Sir Frederick. She knew the name -- it was famous throughout Renais, she'd heard people talk about the valorous Sir Frederick -- but she couldn't remember anything about him. "What was he like? I'm sorry that I don't remember Sir Frederick."

"He was the greatest knight Renais has ever seen. I idolized him, and for the brief time I was a squire to him, he taught me more than I ever learned from anyone else. When I became a paladin, he was the first to congratulate me. He and King Fado were more fatherly to me than my own father ever was."

"It sounds like I should very much have liked to have met him. I may have met him but I don't remember him, more's the pity."

Seth looked at her with a glint in his eyes. "Actually, to be honest, you have met someone who is very similar to him. Sir Frederick lives on, in a manner of speaking, in his two sons. The older one almost reminds me of _my_ father sometimes, but the younger one is so alike to Sir Frederick at times that it dazzles me."

She tilted her head at him; "Two sons? Do you mean...?"

"Yes, my dear. Franz and Forde."

She had known that the brothers' father had been a famous knight, but this was a surprise.

After a moment, she picked up on something else he'd just said. "Wait, did you just say that Forde reminds you of _your_ father?"

"Only in that he is brave and reckless. He is nowhere near as bad as my father in terms of a commander's position. He follows orders, even if he is lazy as they come. Plus, Kyle keeps him in line. But Franz is his father's spitting image at times. And now, darling, I think that's enough talking about the past. We have our future to look forward to, after all."

By now they had reached their suite, and as they continued into the rooms, closing and latching the door, Eirika looked around for a fresh candle for the lamp. The rooms were a bit bare right now, since the two of them had not properly gotten moved in here together yet.

"Seth," she said after a moment, "you told me back in Rausten Court that you would teach me any swordfighting techniques I desired. We haven't had time lately, what with preparations for our wedding and getting the bandit situation under control, but we will have tomorrow to ourselves. Do you think you could at least show me one or two tomorrow? Surely we won't be in bed _all day_."

His chuckle was a trifle feral; "If you can tear yourself out of my arms long enough to dress up for a quick spar, I suppose I can make myself concentrate on showing you a few things. I'll admit that you'll probably be able to disarm me in an actual spar because I'll be a little starstruck looking at you. I'll get over that someday, but for now, I'm going to indulge myself in adoring the woman who has pledged herself to me." He leaned down and nibbled at her throat. "And now, if it please you, my darling princess, I am yours for the using."


	8. Chapter 8

"Has it really been a year and a half since the end of the War of the Stones?" Forde leaned against a pillar. "You know, time sure flies."

"Moreover, it's someone's first wedding anniversary tomorrow," Ephraim added with a grin, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "I wonder if I should be granting a certain someone a day or so off."

"That'd be nice, darling," his wife said from where she was sitting near a window, trying to knit. "I'm sure the General would appreciate a day off."

"Your Majesty, King Ephraim!" A messenger announced from the hallway. "I bring word that General Seth has returned from patrol and seeks an audience with you."

"Send him in, then," Ephraim called, shooting a grin over his shoulder at his sister, who was trying to ignore them and failing.

Seth came careening into the room, his mantle flaring behind him as he strode. He looked a bit haggard and tired from his long patrol but his strides were brisk and professional, betraying none of the residual pain he likely was feeling. His hair had grown longer and a bit straggled since his patrol had begun nearly a month ago, and he hadn't shaved properly in at least a week. His armor was dented and scratched, unpolished, and road-dust stains were visible on the fabric of his uniform.

He came to a halt before the desk and saluted smartly; "King Ephraim, I have returned."

Ephraim throttled down the urge to remind him that the statement was unnecessary; it was pretty damned obvious that he had returned, after all. But now wasn't the time to tease Seth on his formalities.

"What news, Seth? You requested an audience with me before seeing your wife?"

"Even though I knew she'd be here with you, Your Majesty?" The paladin allowed himself a shadow of a smile. "Anyway, I fear the news I bear cannot wait. I bring both good and bad news, my king."

Ephraim gestured for him to speak, and every face in the room turned to him in expectancy.

"The good news is that General Duessel contacted me near Serafew. He has found Emperor Vigarde's cousin, which means we have located a suitable heir to put on Grado's throne if you wish to. He has arranged for the cousin to be escorted to Grado Keep."

Ephraim nodded, not sure he liked that news at all. If this cousin of Vigarde didn't have Lyon's dedication to Grado, then Ephraim wasn't willing to hand over the reins of the country to him. However, it would help if he had at least a Grado-born steward there... Impatiently, he shook his head. "What's the bad news?"

Seth's face became grave; "I just received word last night at Border Mulan that King Hayden of Frelia has taken ill and is relinquishing his throne to Prince Innes. The coronation ceremony will take place in two days."

Ephraim didn't react immediately, as unpleasant as the news was. He didn't _want_ to react right away. News like this took time to absorb, after all.

Tana, sitting awkwardly by the window, gasped in alarm; "My father is ill? Is he dying?"

Seth looked at the queen; "He may be, Your Highness. I was only informed of the fact that he is ill and that Prince Innes is to be crowned as king. I do not know any further details, but I cannot expect that this is a minor illness, if he is abdicating and placing your brother on the throne now. I can only assume that he expects this illness to be the end of him."

Tana looked over at Ephraim; "I need to go to him, Ephraim. You don't even need to escort me, my pegasus can get me there in no time!"

The young king rubbed his forehead; "Tana, you know I can't allow that. I understand that you want to visit him, and I don't want you to be chained here if he _is_ dying... but in your condition, you should _not_ be flying."

She blinked, and her eyes filled with tears; "But... Ephraim, he's my _father_ !'

"I understand your concern, my dear, but you are carrying the future of our kingdom in your womb." He stood up and went to her, putting a gentle hand on her swelling belly; "I can't afford to have you endanger our unborn child, even if your father is dying. I'm so sorry, Tana, but I can't change the rules just because your father is sick." He closed his eyes painfully and pressed a kiss into her hair. "If you insist on going to see your father, you'll have to agree to a regular procession. You _are_ the Queen of Renais, darling."

The young king and queen were a lovely couple, and the entire country adored them. Ephraim had allowed his country to crown him as king just before Tana arrived for the wedding. Their wedding reception had been as much a coronation celebration as it had been wedding celebration. And then, immediately after their wedding -- within two days, in fact -- there had been a minor uprising in Grado that had required the new king to go there and quell it; Tana had taken it upon herself to take advantage of his absence and had used her pegasus to fly from town to town in Renais, meeting with the people and reassuring them that the royals were watching out for them. She'd discovered some bandit problems and had reported the information to Seth, who had dispatched knights to deal with the bandits. Tana's attention to her new subjects earned her their adoration, which increased the overall regard toward Ephraim as a king. Then, a few months after the wedding, the news that the new queen was pregnant had come out and had been met with great enthusiasm by the populace. It was a comfort to the people to know that the royal succession was assured.

The fact that Princess Eirika had married one of her own knights a year ago now and had yet to produce a child was offset by the fact that her brother had married the princess of Frelia and was now expecting the next heir to the throne here within a few months. The Renais nobles had been very unhappy to learn of Eirika and Seth's marriage but had little choice but to accept it, grudgingly. They took every chance they got to needle the princess on her decision to marry a common-born knight.

"My queen," Seth said into the uncomfortable silence, "I cannot speak with any authority as to your father's condition. However, if you insist upon going to your father's side, I shall escort you myself. I can have a carriage ready for you in half an hour."

The silence extended briefly. "Do you really believe King Hayden is dying, then?" Ephraim said wearily.

"I do not know what to think of the situation, Your Majesty. I only saw a messenger from Frelia, and the report was delivered in a monotone to me, so I cannot gauge the situation based on any reactions. But I know the pain of losing a parent to illness as well as anyone in this room, and Queen Tana should not be denied the chance to say goodbye to her father if he is that ill. King Hayden has been very good to us for a very long time."

Tana was silent, her eyes closed, both hands having abandoned her knitting and now resting on her belly. "General Seth, if I ask you to have the carriage readied, can it be on standby to deploy at a moment's notice?"

"Yes, my queen. Once it is readied, you have but to give the word and it will be off."

"Very well. Please do so and have it on standby."

"I'll take care of it, General," Forde offered. "You've been away from home for nearly a month. You deserve a little breather. Let me take care of that much."

Seth didn't even get a chance to agree or refuse, before the blond knight had vanished down the hall. "Er, very well. Good gracious, Forde." The general just shook his head in resignation and returned his attention to his sovereigns.

"What did you have in mind?" Ephraim inquired of his wife. "You're thinking of something, Tana."

Instead, she shook her head; "Darling, please do me a favor and bring me some writing materials. Some paper, a quill, something solid to write on, and a scroll sleeve, if you please. Anderly," she looked over at the squire who waited to attend on the king and queen, "go to the stable and ask for the stablemaster to call for my pegasus Achaeus. Have the stablemaster put a white bridle on my pegasus and detach the reins."

"Tana -- " Ephraim said, a touch angrily, but she held up a hand.

"Ephraim, I will abide by your wishes and not endanger our baby, even if I think there is no harm in riding a pegasus. I have no intentions of _riding_ my pegasus; instead, I plan to have him deliver a message for me. If he has the message tied to a white bridle, then he can fly unimpeded to Castle Frelia, because from the air he will look like a wild pegasus, but when he lands, they will recognize him as mine and will know the message comes from me. I will ask my brother to tell me if our father wants me to return to his side during his illness. That will dictate if I leave or not. But if he is very ill, I will insist on leaving with all speed."

Ephraim looked unhappy, but could see that this was the best compromise they were going to be able to come to. "All right. If this will put your mind at ease, then I will agree to it. And I will pray that your father is not so ill." Inwardly, he hoped that King Hayden's illness, if fatal, would be slow enough that Tana would have plenty of time to complete her pregnancy and safely deliver their child before rushing to her father's side. Morbid as it was to think that way, he didn't want Tana to be forced to decide between her father and her unborn child. Once the baby was safely born, Tana could return to her pegasus's saddle if necessary. With a sigh, he went to his desk and retrieved the requested items, handing them to his wife. Then he waited while she scrawled a note to her brother.

Meanwhile, Eirika approached her husband, greeting him with a kiss and a hug. He smelled of his own sweat, horse sweat and road dust, but she was so glad that he was home.

Seth looked down at her with a relieved smile; "It does my heart good to see you, my love. You look especially radiant today."

"I have something for you," she said with a smile to match her radiance. "I've been waiting eagerly for you to return."

"Oh? Tell me, though, have you been practicing regularly?"

She blinked and laughed; ever since their wedding, he had shown an active interest in her swordsmanship, testing her skills when he returned from patrols as if to remind himself that she could take care of herself. She had found that he was a tough sparring partner, and realized that her desires to cross swords with him had been because of her infatuation, and that in reality, he was difficult to spar with. All the same, it drove her to keep her skills as sharp as her rapier blade. "You know I have! Forde has been sparring with me while he was here, and Kyle helped me the week before. However, you might wish to rethink trying my sword arm."

"Why is that?"

She was positively aglow; "Because I just had it confirmed about a week ago that I am with child. You're going to be a father, Seth. We're going to have a baby."

She had been a bit nervous about telling him this exciting news because she wasn't sure how ready he was to become a father. She also knew that he was a concerned about pregnancy, after losing his sister to complications of childbirth years ago. But she was excited and was determined to take good care of herself so that she could bear him a healthy child. And as the sister of the king, she knew that she would have access to all the healers needed if something should go wrong. They had one of the most highly-regarded midwives in all of Magvel here in the castle, carefully monitoring Tana to ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth. On top of that, Lute and Artur were preparing for Tana's impending laying-in by scouring the royal library for any information on pregnancy and childbirth complications so that they would all be ready if something happened to go wrong.

She wasn't sure what she expected his response to be, so she was pleasantly surprised when he reacted with delight, sweeping her into his arms and kissing her enthusiastically. "That's wonderful news, Eirika! I know you've been wanting this. You just make sure you take good care of yourself, my dearest."

"Of course I will," she said with a happy sigh, embracing him and enjoying his closeness. "I promised you I would when this time came. And I have every intention of making sure that I give you a healthy son or daughter."

"Or both," Ephraim said unhelpfully from where he was standing, having overheard them.

"Shush, you," Eirika retorted. "Twins don't usually happen in succeeding generations, you know!"

"All the same, it came from Mother's side of the family, the twin tendency, so you might have to worry about it," Ephraim replied with an unrepentant grin. "Besides, I didn't necessarily mean twins. I meant that if I know you, you'll want one of each, so this is just your first child. If it's a boy, you'll want a girl too; if it's a girl, you'll insist on giving him a son. I know how you are, sister of mine!"

"I want one of each too," Tana said practically as she finished her note and rolled it up into the scroll sleeve. "Surely you don't object to that, Ephraim?"

"Never said I did. And I have no objections if Eirika wants to have ten children. I'm just stating that I know my sister well enough that I know that one child won't be enough for her. She loves kids."

Seth seemed to be ignoring them both, focused entirely on his wife; "So how far along are you?"

"Not very far at all. The midwife estimates that I am a little over two months along."

"Mm, I see." He pecked a kiss to her forehead; "I'm very happy for you, Eirika. I know how much you've been wanting this."

Tana sealed up the scroll sleeve and put a hand on the window sill, getting some leverage before standing up, a bit awkwardly. Pregnancy didn't agree with her as well as she'd hoped it would, so she was a bit unsteady on her feet. "Ephraim, could you help me up? I want to get my note off to Innes. The sooner I send it, the sooner I'll hear back about Father's condition."

Ephraim assisted her as best he could, and the two couples exited the study, headed toward the front of the castle. Eirika was very happy to have her husband home now, and was looking forward to a private celebration of their first wedding anniversary. He had been gone for twenty-five days until his return today, and she was hoping that he would be home for a while now. Ephraim was pretty considerate for his sister's marital bliss, making sure to give Seth some down time after the general had a long patrol. Frankly, if Ephraim chose to keep his general stationed at the castle instead of out on regular patrols for the duration of her pregnancy, she certainly wouldn't complain! She was hoping that he would be sure to keep Seth stationed at Castle Renais when the time came for her to give birth. She wanted to be able to greet her child with her husband beside her.

"By the way, Seth," Ephraim said as they descended the steps to the courtyard in front of the castle, "Kyle asked me to pass along to you that he thinks his squire, Edgar, is ready to be tested for real. He believes Edgar is ready to be knighted and sworn in as a cavalier."

"Does he?" Seth mused, scratching idly at his chin. "I'm inclined to trust Kyle's judgment. What I've seen of Edgar in action has been impressive, so if Kyle thinks he's ready, I suppose we ought to see just what he can do. I presume you are in agreement with this course of action, my king?"

"I wouldn't have said anything if I wasn't, you oaf," Ephraim chuckled. "Besides, you know your knights better than I do. Forde and Kyle became good friends of mine because you kept assigning them to me, but that doesn't mean I know them as well as I'd like."

The general chuckled as well; "Ah, well, I think you are being too humble, but I shall accept your praise, Your Majesty. I had my reasons for assigning them to you so often, after all."

Achaeus came dropping out of the sky like a falcon, then flared his great wings and landed daintily beside his chosen rider, even though she had been unable to ride him for several months. Tana scratched his forehead affectionately as Ephraim tied the scroll sleeve to the bridle.

"Now, Achaeus, I want you to go find Syrene. Deliver this letter to Syrene. You know Syrene. She'll know what to do with this message." She patted the pegasus's head. "Go quickly, my friend and return to me quickly. Remember, deliver this message to Syrene. No one else."

With a sharp whinny, the pegasus stallion hopped backwards away from her to get some room, reared up and launched skyward with heavy wing-beats. Then, spiraling upwards on an updraft, the stallion soared up high into the sky and then vanished into the clouds.

Tana leaned against Ephraim, her face betraying her worry; "I hope Father is not as sick as I fear he is."

The air was soon full of the sound of drumming hooves as horses approached from three directions. Seth stepped forward, manuevering his sovereigns and his wife behind him on instinct, until the horses came into view and they could all relax at the sight of three familiar coursers with recognizable riders approaching the castle.

The largest horse was the first to arrive, and his muscular rider all but vaulted off as the horse came to a stop. "King Ephraim!"

"What is it, Kyle? You're back early."

"Bad news, Your Majesty! I bring word that Fort Renvall has fallen to insurgents."

"Bloody hell!" Ephraim's face folded in fury. "What is wrong with Grado? I'm doing the best I can, and they can't be satisfied! What are they demanding this time?"

"That you surrender the entire empire. Word has gotten out that Emperor Vigarde's cousin has been located and has been escorted to the capitol, and the rebels are demanding that he be made the new Emperor."

"News flash: there _is_ no Grado 'empire' anymore, not since I conquered their capitol and forced the country to surrender. I conquered it, so the 'empire' is mine, not theirs." Ephraim said bitingly, tugging angrily at his gloves in a sense of agitated helplessness.

"I'm aware of that, Your Majesty," Kyle said unhappily. "The problem is, they aren't agreeing. They forced me to come back here."

"They sent you back? What for?"

"Because they claim to have taken Serafew hostage, and I didn't want to risk the people of Serafew in trying to negotiate with them. They're demanding to talk to _you_ , King Ephraim. They won't even listen if we send General Seth; they've said so themselves that they'll start torching Serafew if anyone but you comes toward them."

Ephraim scowled but relented, unclasping the ceremonial cloak of office and handing it to Tana. "Very well. Seth, your new orders."

Seth saluted the king smartly; "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I will ride to Serafew with Kyle, to negotiate if possible any terms with these insurgents. You are to guard Castle Renais. I leave the safety of my wife and my sister in your hands. If a message comes back from Frelia that King Hayden requests Tana's presence, I want you to remain here at the castle to defend it. I see that Franz and Amelia have returned from their patrols, so keep them on hand in case Tana needs an escort."

Kyle raised a hand to forestall further discussion, with a boldness born of many years working together with Ephraim; "With all due respect, King Ephraim, may I make a suggestion before you go any further with this?"

Ephraim gave the knight a firm look; "Of couse you can, Kyle. You know how much Seth and I rely on your feedback."

"Your Majesty, I did ride back here to inform you of this, since I was on patrol anyway, but I don't think that the course of action they demand is the best one for you to take. Based on my experiences and what I have seen of the insurgents at Renvall, I think that you riding out to treat with them is unwise just yet. I think you should wait here for now. Caving to their demand so early may send the wrong message to other potential insurgents, and I am not entirely sure that they are capable of fulfilling their threats."

"Why?"

"They have taken Renvall, yes, but they haven't moved from there toward any other city. They claim to have Serafew as a hostage, but I've seen nothing to back that up. There were no signs of occupation in Serafew. I'm not sure they even have the manpower to threaten Serafew, though I didn't want take any unnecessary risks by investigating until I had informed you of the situation. I suspect that they are bluffing where Serafew is concerned. In fact, I think it would be wiser if you were to send a small troop to protect the town and prevent the insurgents from starting to punish the citizens of the city, making certain to be simply a defensive force, not an invading one. I would be more than happy to organize and lead one in Your Majesty's name, you need only give the word."

Ephraim grunted in frustration; "I must admit that caving to rebels' demands doesn't appeal to me, but I don't want to risk the lives or property of innocent people either. Seth, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Seth said carefully, "it is well known throughout all of Magvel how much you and Princess Eirika revere the city of Serafew, especially since the death of Prince Lyon. I think the insurgents are using that against you to try and force you to cooperate with them. They were counting on Kyle to be too cautious to test their claims. I agree with Kyle that you should take steps to protect Serafew rather than to treat with these rebels. If they want to seize Renvall, let them. It is only a fort, not a city full of innocent people. Eventually they will either set their sights on another city, or they will give up, which means that retaking the fort will be easier. If you are asking my advice, I second Kyle's recommendation."

Ephraim sighed and gathered the mantle of office from Tana, clipping it back on; "I suppose you're right. I just hate how they're rebelling against me when all I want is what is best for everyone. I'm trying to be the king Lyon wanted us both to be. Kyle, organize a team to head to Serafew. Seth has had a long patrol and I really should give him a rest. And you _are_ technically back early."

Kyle saluted cheerfully; "Leave it to me, Your Majesty. All I ask for is a couple of hours to rest, as I'm very hungry and my horse is exhausted, and I'll be off again. By your leave, General?" He turned to his commanding officer automatically.

"Good man," Seth said. "Take four or six hours to rest and gather a small troop and then report to me before you leave."

"Will do, General. I can do it in two hours."

"Take the full four to six though. You have earned it. And you can take Forde with you, if you like. He's been on standby for the past week, I believe."

"As you order, General. I shall see to my horse now. By your leave, my king?" Ephraim waved him on, and Kyle saluted both his king and his general, and then reached for his mount's bridle to lead the horse away toward the stables.

Ephraim turned around as Kyle left, looking at his family with a tired smile; "Well, bloody hell. Things are going all pear-shaped, aren't they?"

Eirika gave him an encouraging smile; "It could be worse, dear brother."

"It could, yes." He looked over at his sister and her husband. "Seth, you can take tomorrow off, barring any emergencies. Not only have you had a long patrol, but it's your anniversary tomorrow so take some time off from work and spend it with my sister."

"As you command, my king," Seth said with a salute. "I am certainly tired. I think I may be starting to get old."

Ephraim looked like he wasn't sure he wanted to laugh at that; "I do hope you are attempting to joke around, Seth."

Franz and Amelia presented themselves before their commanding officer and reported on their patrols. Seth accepted their verbal reports with his usual finesse and instructed both of them to get something to eat, get some rest and be ready to be dispatched in a day or two.

"General, Princess?" Franz lingered after they were dismissed. "I wanted to congratulate you both."

Seth blinked and looked at his wife in something akin to suspicion. She was just as surprised as he was, though, and gave voice to it. "What for, Franz?"

"Tomorrow is your anniversary." The young knight looked a little confused. "Surely you didn't forget that, did you?"

"Ah, no," Seth chuckled. "I just wasn't sure what you were congratulating us on."

"Is there another reason I should be congratulating you?"

Eirika beamed; "Yes, actually, Franz, there is, though I was wondering how you'd have found out, being out on patrol, as I only found out a week ago. I think that's why Seth was so stunned too when you offered your congratulations."

She had his full attention, and his peridot-green eyes glittered with delight like the gems they resembled; "Ooh! Princess Eirika, does this mean you are having a baby?"

The shocked silence that met that question was clearly what Franz had been hoping for, as his grin grew impossibly huge.

"How did you figure that out?" Seth asked finally. "How do you do that, Franz? You figure things out so fast!"

Franz looked like he wanted to burst with excitement, but controled his delight and offered the couple a respectful salute; "My sincerest congratulations! I look forward to serving the crown alongside your children, General!"

"Answer me, Franz," Seth said, flushed slightly with embarrassment. "How did you figure it out?"

"To be fair, General," Amelia said with a laugh, "Princess Eirika did say that there was reason to congratulate you both, and that's the first thought that came to my mind too." She made an awkward, sheepish gesture that was a sort of cross between a salute and a bow. "Please allow me to extend my congratulations on your news as well. Er, I'm sure your child will be a great asset to Renais." Amelia, being a commoner from a rural village in Grado, was unaccustomed to the formalities of court. She considered Eirika to be a personal friend and often had to be subtly reminded of the invisible line of station between the princess and the knights who served the crown. As such, sometimes she said things in an attempt to be formal and proper that just came out awkward. This was one such incident, and Eirika wasn't the only one who had to very quickly hide amusement at Amelia's bumbling eagerness to fit in.

Eirika also noticed that Seth reacted very subtly to Amelia's last sentence -- a reaction she would never have noticed if she hadn't been married to him now and used to his subtle reactions to things he found slightly unpleasant -- and wondered what was on his mind. Well, she had her suspicions, but she did want to know if she was off-base. Nevertheless, she stood aside and waited while the two young knights saluted them and then took their leave, taking their horses to the stables.

"Seth, is something bothering you?" She inquired once she felt she had him alone, relatively.

"Not particularly, no." That was the most unconvincing answer he had given her in a long time, she noted. "Why do you ask?"

"I saw you react to Amelia saying our child will be an asset to Renais. Surely you don't disapprove of the sentiment?"

He looked frustrated, and a little sheepish. "I should have known better. You are too perceptive. However, I do not wish to discuss this here, in the open. Can this wait until we have some actual privacy? I promise you that once I have finished my post-patrol duties, you will have my undivided attention."

She nodded in acceptance. She had a feeling she knew what he was worried about, since he had once, when slightly inebriated (following Ephraim and Tana's wedding, when the General himself had indulged in a little too much wine; she remembered with crystal clarity how mortified he'd been when he realized that he was tipsy, and how he'd tried to practically hide behind her for the rest of the reception) mentioned that he didn't want his own future children to feel forced to become knights. He hadn't elaborated as to what he meant, so she wasn't sure if it was a case of his old bitterness towards his father resurfacing, or if he was genuinely concerned about his own children feeling that they had to surpass him.

If this was all he was worried about, then she wasn't going to be concerned, since that was something she couldn't really help him with, but if he was anxious about her being pregnant, or simply about becoming a father in the first place, well, that was something a little more worrying (though again she couldn't do much for him other than to reassure him that she was taking care of herself and that she had faith that he'd be an excellent father).

By now, Ephraim and Tana were heading back indoors, arm in arm as was common for them. Eirika smiled a bit to herself; for all that Ephraim had insisted for months leading up to the wedding that his love for Tana was more of that of a childhood friend and not the passionate lust of a lover, it was clear that he was fiercely devoted to his wife. His affection and devotion for the beautiful queen were well known throughout Renais. He had even greeted his bride upon her arrival to his court in advance of their wedding with a passionate kiss. And the two of them had been nervous for their wedding but radiantly aglow after the ceremony. Ephraim seemed to ease up afterwards, though Tana had complained a few times to Eirika that she still couldn't get him to actually say "I love you" to her without her resorting to tears first.

Seth let out a groan as he rotated his shoulders wearily; "I don't like to shirk my duties, but I think that if King Ephraim wishes to give me more time off than just a single day, I will not complain or demand to go back to work. That was a long, hard patrol. I am growing _very_ weary of dealing alone with groups of bandits. They don't even know who I am, they just see a knight in fancy armor and think they can gang up on me. It's tiresome."

She looked over at him sharply. She realized that there were some fresher dents and scars on his armor than she'd noticed before. She had been so focused on greeting him and telling him her news that she hadn't noticed that he was a bit battered. Now suddenly she felt terrible for not noticing before. What kind of loving and attentive wife would fail to notice that her husband had returned from patrol with this kind of battle damage?

He noticed her gaze and smiled mollifyingly; "No, Eirika, do not even start to feel bad. I am unharmed. I know how to handle bandits, I have been doing it for a very long time. I just grow tired of having to deal with them at all." He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. "I am _just fine_ , my darling. I wear reinforced steel armor for a reason and I train my horses how to dodge axes."

The way he said "my horses" brought an unpleasant memory to mind; "Oh, uh, Seth..."

"Mm? What's the matter?"

"I don't know if you heard yet or not... but..." She bit her lip. "Hyperion got hurt while you were gone. They had to put him down. Apparently he was just a wee bit too playful or something and he stumbled when they were bringing him in at night. The stablemaster said that he shattered a leg."

His expression saddened; "I saw that his paddock was empty, as was his stall, so I suspected something was wrong. But no, I hadn't heard. That's a real shame. He was one of the best horses I ever had. I don't think even Mercurius could have gotten you and I out of Castle Renais and to Castle Frelia with Grado hounding us like they were." Mercurius was the name of the big rangy grey horse he rode these days, a long-bodied and lean-muscled courser who was among the fastest in the entire stable.

She put a hand on his arm in concern, and he shook his head; "No, Eirika, do not pity me. It is a shame, but I have lost good horses before. It is just part of this line of work. At least with Hyperion, I was able to have him bred to a number of mares, so there is the possibility that one of those mares will give me a colt who may yet surpass Hyperion himself." For just a moment, both of them indulged in a moment of silence in memory of the brave stallion who had served them both through the earliest stages of the War of the Stones.

Eirika started to feel fatigued, as was becoming usual for her lately. This sudden fatigue early in the day had, in fact, been her first clue that she might be pregnant. She was lucky that she hadn't suffered the early-morning nausea anywhere near to the degree that Tana had been suffering for a while. Even now, only a few months away from delivery, Tana still had trouble with nausea in the mornings. The midwife wasn't worried, which was the only reason why Tana herself wasn't worrying too much about it either.

Seth noticed this and caressed her cheek with an ungloved hand; "Darling, you look very tired. Maybe you should go rest yourself?"

She wanted to argue but knew that he was just being polite and attentive. He wasn't trying to make it seem like she was weak. Moreover, his suggestion wasn't a bad idea, especially in light of what he said when he continued.

"I have some duties I must attend to before I can give you my full attention, Eirika. Shall I find you in our quarters when I'm done?"

"Yes," she said with some resignation, "I suppose so. I suppose I could use a little catnap. But on one condition."

He raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to speak further.

"You must promise me that even if I'm asleep when you get home, you'll wake me at least long enough to let me know that you're home. I don't care how sound asleep I seem. I want to know the moment you're home." He made as if to protest, and she put a hand to his mouth to stop him. "If I'm still too tired to do anything, then I'll probably choose to sleep, and I know you won't be offended by that, so I won't even bother asking your forgiveness. But if I'm not too tired, if I'm feeling just fine, I want to spend time with you. You've been away for nearly a month, Seth, and I have missed you _terribly_."

"I will make you a deal, my darling," he said gently, pulling her hand away. "When I get to our suite, if you are asleep, I shall lay down beside you. If my doing so should wake you, then we will know you are not so tired. But if you are too deeply asleep that the bed moving doesn't phase you, I will probably be glad for a little time to nap myself. I have been away from home for nearly a month, as you mentioned, and _I_ am tired too. Will this suffice you, Eirika?"

She sighed and leaned into his caress; "All right. I suppose I can't argue with the logic there. I just don't want you deciding that I need rest just because I've dozed off. I want to know when you're home so that I can make the decision of which I want more, sleep or attention from my newly-returned husband. But," she added quickly, as she realized that she wasn't taking his fatigue into account, "if you're tired and want sleep too, please do tell me so. I don't want to wear you out, after all!"

He laughed outright at that; "Never fear, my love. You know me well enough, so you'll know if I'm too tired for a little friskiness. To be fair, though, I have never been too tired after a patrol to give you the attention you crave, so I don't see why that should start now. I've been away from your side for weeks at a time before." He kissed her again. "Rest well, my dearest. I'll be at your side in a few hours."

They were interrupted by a whistling sound overhead, and a sudden commotion nearby as a fleeting shadow chanced across them. Like a giant peregrine falcon, it stooped into a dive and arrowed across the courtyard in an eyeblink. Eirika ducked slightly in an automatic defensive gesture, and looked up. Seth put an arm across her, as if to shield her, also an automatic movement born of years of service with the royal family. It was, in retrospect, a decidedly foolish thing to do, as it would not have protected Eirika from much of anything, but it was also not a conscious action.

Either way, by the time they had figured out what was going on, the diving shadow had already landed and was standing in the courtyard a few meters away, its rider dismounting with a flourish.

It was a Frelian pegasus stallion, with a recognizable rider hopping down to the ground and saluting the Knight General of Renais. And while the Pegasus Knights of Frelia were notoriously fast, this was no ordinary Pegasus Knight. It was a commanding officer, a reputed and famous FalcoKnight, known all across Magvel for her grace and beauty as well as speed and skill in flight.

Seth regained his wits in admirable fashion; "Well met, Dame Syrene. What brings you to our court?"

Syrene, the Commander of the most elite Pegasus Knight forces in Frelia, smiled faintly as she patted her stallion (Eirika recalled Tana telling her that Syrene's favorite pegasus was named Peregrine, after the fastest of all birds); "I was on my way here to bring a message to Queen Tana, when her pegasus Achaeus crossed my path and started pestering me. He had a scroll attached to his bridle. A letter to Prince Innes, from Queen Tana. Since I am here on Prince Innes's orders, I shall deliver the message to him after I have done my assigned duty." She saluted again, almost flawlessly maintaining protocol. "General Seth. Might I have the pleasure of your company while I deliver my assigned message to His Majesty and Queen Tana?" Then she acknowledged Eirika with a slight flush of embarrassment. "I would be honored to have your company as well, Princess Eirika. My apologies for ignoring you."

Seth let out a brief sigh but returned the salute; "All right. Let's get this over with. I am tired and sore from a long patrol, and I have post-patrol duties, but a message from Prince Innes, carried by his most senior FalcoKnight officer, must be very important."

Syrene gave him a smile as she handed off her pegasus's reins to a stable attendant who had arrived, giving him brief instructions to give her pegasus plenty of water and some dried hay but nothing more. Then she fell in behind the general and his royal wife, ascending the stairs and entering into the castle proper.

Ephraim and Tana weren't far from the main doorway and from their postures, they were having a mild disagreement. But both of them dropped their private conversation the moment they saw who was with Seth and Eirika.

Tana went about two shades paler. "Syrene... if you're here..."

"Your pegasus brought me a letter written by you to your brother, my lady," Syrene said gently. "I am here on Prince Innes's orders, to inform you and King Ephraim of some news, but it seems that the news has preceded me. So instead, I am here to clarify. May I continue, Your Majesty?"

"By all means," Ephraim said immediately.

The FalcoKnight nodded in acceptance of the unvoiced command; "My lady, your noble father has fallen ill. The general diagnosis from the healers is that it is an incurable, ultimately-fatal disease, but they estimated that with proper care, he will have a number of years left, provided he retires from the throne to allow for proper treatment. He has opted to abdicate the throne to your brother, stating that he believes it is time for Frelia to be guided by a new king anyway. The coronation ceremony will take place a week from tomorrow. His Highness requests the presence of his sister at his ascension."

"A week from tomorrow?" Seth raised an eyebrow. "I was told that it would take place at the first of the month, which would be the day after tomorrow."

Syrene nodded; "That was the original date for the coronation. However, Prince Innes has his reasons for postponing the actual ceremony, one of which being that he wishes his sister to attend, and he recognizes that in her condition, she must travel carefully and slowly. Prince Innes sends his regards, and his apologies that a messenger was dispatched to Border Mulan before the details could be ironed out. This is why I was dispatched, in fact, in hopes of reaching Castle Renais before the news did, so as to not distress Queen Tana with the implication that King Hayden is mortally ill just yet."

Tana looked like she was going to faint from relief; "So my father isn't dying?"

"Not yet, my lady," Syrene said with a sympathetic smile. "In fact, when his health returns to a stable state, he would like to come visit you and stay for a while, to see for himself that you are happy here in Renais. And perhaps," she added with a bit more of a mischeivous smile, "to dote upon his grandchild, whom he is eager to meet." Then her gaze hardened. "Make no mistake, though, Queen Tana. This illness is dangerous and it _will_ claim his life soon. But if he cares for himself and submits to regular treatment, he should have several years left to his life before the disease takes him. And it is not a contagious disease, so you needn't fear for your own health."

Tana looked very sad; "So I will still have to say goodbye to my father sooner than I will be ready to." She sniffled slightly and put on a brave face; "All right. I understand. Syrene, do you have to return right now or can you stay for a little while? Like, maybe an hour?"

Syrene gave her a warm smile; "My pegasus is tired, so I can give him a little rest, if you would like me to stay here for an hour or so, Your Highness. But I will need to be heading home before too long. Prince Innes wants me home by sundown to report. Also..." For a moment she looked apprehensive, but waved it off. "Nevermind."

She didn't get away with that, though. Ephraim caught on, as did Seth.

"What is it, Syrene? Is something wrong back at Castle Frelia?"

Seth in particular was unconvinced by Syrene's attempt at casualness. "Why would Prince Innes push back his own coronation a full week just for his sister's sake? If Queen Tana left tomorrow morning at sunrise, she could be at Frelia's court in two days. In fact, if she left right now -- and the carriage will be ready for her by now -- she could be there in a day and a half."

Syrene shifted uncomfortably; "I do not have permission from the prince to divulge this information. I'm sorry."

Ephraim shrugged; "All right. I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Tana, I trust you'll grill your brother on this when you go to his coronation?" Without waiting for Tana to respond, he then shifted modes into a formal, kingly posture. "Thank you, Syrene. When you return to your king and prince, convey my good will and my congratulations to the prince, and my sympathy and best wishes to your king. Now, if you will excuse me, my love, I have some things to attend to." He gave Tana a brief smooch on the forehead and then hurried off.

Seth blinked as his king retreated; "Er... that was odd. Eirika, has he been skittish recently?"

"Skittish, no. Busy, yes," Tana replied.

Eirika put a hand up to shush her sister-in-law; "Yes and no, Seth. He's been busy, but I think he's been taking his being busy a little too seriously, so I think he's been a bit, er, skittish, as you call it, but he's been trying to channel it. I think that it hasn't helped that he's had no one reliable to spar with and he hates being idle in the castle while his knights do his work for him."

"I see," the red-haired paladin said. "I suppose I shall have to keep him busy myself, then. I think I can distract him from feeling too antsy... but not today. I have post-patrol duties to attend to, a wife to give attention to, and then some sleep that I need to get caught up on." He faced Syrene smartly and gave her a respectful salute, the kind given from one commanding officer to to another. "Dame Syrene, give my regards to your royalty and to General Gilliam." Then, with an additional salute to Tana, the general took his leave and exited the room.

Eirika put a hand on Tana's shoulder; "Tana, I'm exhausted. I'm going to go lay down for a bit." On impulse, she put her arms around her and hugged her; "I'm glad your father isn't dying yet. The world will be so much darker when he's gone, so I'm glad he's not going away just yet. I'd stay here with you but I'm so tired... I'm sure you understand what I'm going through."

Tana laughed, a bit of a forced laugh, betraying her lingering concern for King Hayden. However, she returned Eirika's hug with sincerity; "Of course I understand, Eirika. Take care of yourself. I've got Syrene here for a bit, and hopefully Ephraim will be done with whatever he's doing soon."

Eirika accepted a smart salute from Syrene; "Thanks for coming to allay Tana's fears, Syrene. Give my regards to General Gilliam as well. And Father Moulder, if you would be so kind?"

"I shall be delighted to do so, Princess Eirika. Thank you for your time."

Eirika headed for the stairwell, feeling a heaviness in her arms and legs that was by now familiar. She was hoping this exhaustion would wear off in a few months... though if it didn't, this wouldn't last forever anyway. She had less than eight months to go before her baby would be born, ending the pregnancy.

Her bed was large and comfortable, though it had been a bit too large (and lonely) this past month or so without her husband. She had made a habit of sleeping in the middle, sometimes cuddling with Seth's pillows before falling asleep. In fact, she didn't even think about any of that as she sat down on the bed, arranged the pillows for a nap and curled up. As she slowly drifted off, she thought about Seth's suggestion that he wake her up by laying down beside her. He would have some trouble, perhaps, since there wouldn't be a lot of room. She didn't have the energy to find much humor in this, but she still smiled a little and shifted slightly, to give him just enough room if he managed to come into the room and not rouse her.

Her last thought before surrendering to sleep was that she had forgotten to ask Seth about names for the baby. Oh well, she had time. Plenty of time, in fact. Seth would be around for a little while, she hoped. Then, the warm black darkness of sleep claimed her consciousness and floated her away.

 

* * *

Seth rubbed his shoulders in exhaustion as he shed his armor and stowed it into a locker in the barracks, finally done with his post-patrol duties. Now all he needed to do was grab something to eat and then go to his private quarters and give his wife some much-deserved attention.

The general could really feel the hours upon hours in the saddle by now. Much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to feel as though he was getting old. He was not even thirty-three years old, but his body was starting to fail him. He suffered from acute joint pain these days. Perhaps he would have to consider retiring his post soon, becoming a full-time advisor to the king.

That thought was sour in his mouth. The least he could do was make it to age forty before retiring, surely! Or perhaps thirty-five?

There was one thing he could do, that he had never done before but he recalled that Justin had done on a couple of occasions, years before his own retirement. He had already been doing some of this, subconsciously, for over a year and a half now, if he thought about it...

"General!" A voice, as if summoned, called over to him. He looked up to see Kyle hurrying across the barracks to him.

"What is it, Kyle?" The knight looked rattled, which was a worry to Seth, as Kyle was his most steadfast, unflappable knight (except for when Forde was involved; the so-called Wild Knight could unhinge Kyle's steadiness with ease).

"I'm terribly, terribly sorry, General! I completely forgot about this! I was given this by General Duessel almost a week ago. It's addressed to you, not King Ephraim. I just got..." He looked so sheepish as he handed over a letter. It was no secret at all that the Silver Knight, General of the Knights and Army of Renais, and the Obsidian, General of the Grado Imperial Army, regarded each other with the highest of respect and corresponded regularly. Ephraim encouraged his two generals to correspond. However, it was rare for a letter to be urgent enough for a high-ranking knight to be asked to deliver. "I'm sorry, General Seth. I got distracted when I ran into trouble at Renvall."

Seth waved it off; "You're hardly a personal courier, Kyle. Don't be so hard on yourself." He broke open the seal and read the letter. It was relatively long for a letter from Duessel, considering the Obsidian's tendency toward brevity in written form. Halfway down, Seth felt his blood run colder and his hands trembled slightly.

"Kyle... did you have any idea what was in here?"

"No, sir, not at all. General Duessel just told me to make sure it got to you. He said it was important that you know about it."

Seth frowned; "I see. Have you heard anything about Commander Cormag?"

Kyle's eyes widened as he interpreted on the spot why such a question would be asked just now. "Did something happen to him?"

"According to this letter, he resigned his post and left the Grado capitol, and no one has seen him since -- not even his parents. General Duessel is asking that I inform him if I have found any traces of Cormag, if only so that the General can relay the information to Cormag's parents, who are beside themselves with worry."

Kyle's expression was almost tragic; "They've lost one son already, and the other hasn't come home to them. No wonder they are worried. That... reminds me... I need to visit mine when I've got some time." He rubbed his neck nervously. "I'm not going to have that for a while, though, am I? So I should at least send them a letter. Sorry, General, I'm being selfish right here, wasting your time like this. Ah, you did want me to report to you before I left..."

Seth almost kicked himself at remembering that he'd ordered Kyle to do that; "Right... I did. I'll consider this good enough. I'm exhausted and I'm going to go have a lie-down for a bit. Make sure you check in with either King Ephraim or the quartermaster before you head out, but otherwise, I trust you to handle this yourself. But before you go, Kyle," he added as the younger knight turned away, "I want to ask you something."

"Yes sir?"

"I am considering naming a successor now. I need someone to help me uphold my duties. I'm not getting any younger -- I've spent more than half my life as a sworn knight to the crown here, and I'm getting physically run down from it. To be honest, the knight that best fits the ideal I have... is you, Kyle. Will you accept, if I offer, the position as successor apparent of the Knight General? I believe that it makes you, in rank, a colonel, though it's a rank we don't use much so I'd have to look it up."

Kyle looked like he'd been hit with the butt-end of a silver lance. "R-really, sir?" He then remembered himself and saluted smartly; "I am yours to command, General Seth. If you think me capable of taking on that role, I shall do so to the best of my abilities and not let you down, sir. And I would consider it the highest of honors to be able to serve you and King Ephraim in this manner."

Seth decided abruptly, given everything that had gone on today, that this was enough; "All right. I will advise King Ephraim to proceed with the promotion for you. Good luck with Serafew and Renvall, and do not hesitate to send for reinforcements if you need them." He gave his knight a parting salute, which was crispy returned. "Return to us unharmed, that's the most I can ask of you. All of Renais needs you, Kyle, so do not endanger yourself unnecessarily."

"Thank you, General. I shall strive to make you and King Ephraim proud."

With that concluded, Seth left the barracks area and headed into the castle proper, nodding in acknowledgement when servants and others greeted him. He paused very briefly to speak with Lute and Artur, though the ever-empathic Artur picked up on Seth's exhaustion and mercifully cut the conversation short, shooing the general onwards. Seth gratefully took the opportunity and kept moving, stopping by the kitchens to get a piece of fruit to tide his stomach over while he got some rest.

By the time he got to the suite that he hadn't been in for nearly a month, which had been his for just about a year now since his marriage had begun, he was flagging badly. He had been on the road, in the saddle, for most of the day for the past several days. Even lovemaking wasn't as appealing as a good long nap. However, he did want to clean up a bit.

He made a quick trip into the shower, dousing himself with hot water and a little soap to wash off the road dust and sweat. He could shower more fully later, but for now, at least, he had washed the stink off. He left his clothes on the floor and wrapped himself in a terrycloth robe.

He was somewhat relieved to see that Eirika was sound asleep as he arrived in their bedroom. He was also amused that she was situated in the center of the bed. This was forcing him to wake her up, even though he himself was quite weary. He wasn't upset at all; this was typical of his wife, after all, and it was pointless to take any sort of offense when it was clear that none was actually intended.

He sat down on the bed and reached over to her, brushing her hair away from her face. "Eirika, my darling. I'm home. I'm done with my duties."

Her breathing changed slightly as she roused sluggishly. "Seth?" Her voice was sluggish and if she had said more than one word, she surely would have slurred them. She likely would fall back asleep in almost nothing at all. It was even possible that she was not awake enough to remember this conversation at all when she woke up later.

"Shh," he said quietly as he shifted on the bed, laying down beside her and curling around her. "Please go back to sleep, my love. I'm exhausted and need a nap myself, and I'd rather sleep with you in my arms. You don't find this unpleasant, do you?"

"Mmm," she replied sleepily and rolled over to face him. She was mostly asleep, only barely lucid at all. "Not at all. Seth, when we wake up, I'd like to talk about names for our baby... but I don't have any energy to talk right now..." She was drifting off again even as she spoke.

"All in good time, my love," he said, stifling a huge, jaw-dislocating yawn. "All in good time."

 

* * *

It was dark in the room. Seth was dozing amongst a tangle of sheets and bedcovers, while Eirika took silent pleasure in listening to his respiration. She had missed him terribly. While he was away, she had kept herself occupied as best she could, had even convinced herself that she was just concerned about his absence because she loved him and feared for his safety, but now that he was home, she had to admit that she had missed having him _here_ , giving her attention, satisfying her most basic cravings. She had never expected to want or need someone so much, but she did, and she regretted nothing at all.

She couldn't see him just now, the darkness was too consuming, but she could envision him, the way he was draped over the rumbled bedding, the way his scarlet hair tumbled messily from his head.... the tiny grimace if he shifted just so, putting pressure on a weak joint...

She frowned a bit into the darkness at that last thought. He was definitely developing arthritis, however much he tried to deny it or ignore it. Artur and Lute had both said as much for the past year now. The last time Lute had said something, in fact, she had smacked the General on the shoulder with a Heal staff, in sheer frustration with him for not listening to her. Artur was more patient than his wife, but even he was getting very frustrated that Seth was ignoring their suggestions. Moreover, the weakness in the left side of the paladin's torso from the stab wound from Valter Moonstone some two years or more ago, was likewise a concern. Ephraim was very bad at making his general stand down, too.

She didn't want to pressure him into retiring his post, but at the same time, she worried about him. He had suffered some truly horrific injuries since the war had begun, some of them even after it was officially over. Sir Justin, the Cobalt Knight, the previous Knight General, had confided in her once, saying that he himself had never taken so many grievous injuries in his long years as the Knight General, due to the prevailing peacetime that had been most of King Fado's reign, and that he didn't honestly believe that Seth had the physical capacity to withstand the rigors of the job for many more years if he continued now as he had for the past five years or so.

He shifted, rolling over, and grunted in discomfort.

"Seth," she said softly, "we need to talk."

He shifted, and she heard him sit up and shuffle around on the bedside before lighting the candle at the bedside, illuminating their bedroom in a pale glow. "I have a feeling you don't want to talk about baby names. Am I right?"

She didn't answer right away, looking him over. His scars were prominent, and there was a new one on his arm; there were the tell-tale marks of an open wound closed up by a Mend staff. She looked up into his eyes; "Seth... I don't like how battered you're getting. Can't you slow down? I'm not asking you to retire, but..."

He looked very resigned; "Eirika, you knew going into this marriage that it was going to be like this for a while. I can't just step down yet. This is my life; this is what I am. This is what I chose to do more than half my life ago." He ran a hand through his hair. "I wish you'd have more faith in me, my dear."

"It's not a matter of faith," she snapped angrily. "When you come back from your patrols, you are in pain, every single time nowadays. And who do you think has to listen to Lute or Artur vent when you ignore their recommendations? They're very frustrated because they can see you breaking down more clearly than anyone else, and you aren't listening to a thing they say." She clenched the bedding involuntarily; "Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Lute club you with a Sleep staff like she's threatened, if it would finally make you slow down."

Unexpectedly, he put a hand to her mouth, to silence her. "Eirika, let me speak a bit before you go on a tirade. I know what is happening better than you do."

She relented, albeit reluctantly.

"I know my limits, my dear," he said after a moment to marshal his thoughts together and form a coherent monologue. "I've spoken with Kyle, and I'll speak with King Ephraim about this as well. I want to promote Kyle into a command position, to make him my successor apparent, so I can let him handle some of my duties. It will help both of us. He will have authority to act as a commanding officer, and I can relinquish command to a knight I trust, without surrendering command entirely. That way, when I decide to retire, he won't face what I had to face, taking over the command of the army with some dissent, because he'll have been long acknowledged as my successor and will have been trained explicitly for the job." He sighed. "I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I won't be able to command anywhere near as long as Sir Justin did. Pride no longer has anything to do with this; I have a family and future to think about, and there is no shame in retiring by age forty, especially since I have been serving for as long as I have. Even when I retire command, I have no intentions of leaving His Majesty entirely. I intend to the serve the throne of Renais until my final breath. So please, Eirika, try to not worry so much about me. We are on the verge of restoring the peace in our kingdom, and when that happens, I will step back."

She sighed; "I'll hold you to that promise, then, Seth. I want our children to grow up with their father healthy and able to _be_ a father to them. If you end up crippled, or the gods forbid, even killed, then you may not be there for them when they might need you the most." This seemed to be a good segue into what she had wanted to discuss with him earlier. "Which reminds me... you seemed distressed when anyone suggested our children would be serving Renais as you have."

His expression hardened; "I do not really want our children to become knights, Eirika. This is a very hard, unforgiving life, and I would rather spare them it."

"That isn't for you to decide," she said. "If they want to follow you into knighthood, they should be allowed to. If they choose not to, then we should help them find their own paths in life." She was encouraged, however, that he seemed to be taking the prospect of more than one child in stride. She hadn't been sure of how he'd react to this pregnancy, so suggesting or even implying future pregnancies had been a bit of a concern for her. But he seemed to be adjusting to everything with his usual steadiness. "I have no intentions of allowing our children to be pressured into becoming knights, but neither do I want to prevent them from following your legacy if they choose to."

He sighed; "I do not know how it is that you can so easily and so soundly defeat me, Eirika."

"Feminine wiles," she replied, scooting over close to him and snuggling up against him.

"Not really," he said with a brief snort of laughter. "If I were susceptible to female charm, surely other women could disarm me as well. So far, only you have managed to do that. I wish I knew how."

"I'm glad you don't know. At least we know who wears the pants in this relationship!"

He laughed outright; "Well, neither of us has a stitch of clothing on right now, so neither of us is wearing pants at all at the moment. If you aren't trying to entice me, then I suggest you leave well enough alone. If you _are_ trying to entice me, then please do continue. You certainly have my attention, darling."

With a smirk, she chose a more direct method of seduction, succinctly closing the door (for now) on any debate they had been having. Despite his protests, she knew as well as he did that she had a strong pull over him, and she wasn't afraid to use that influence in private if necessary.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten years after the end of the War of the Stones, everyone gathers together to celebrate their decade of relative peace, and for their children to meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose the name for Franz and Forde's father long before I knew about the name of the Fire Emblem: Awakening "jeigan" character Frederick. I realize that this may be jarring to people who have played both games, but since the name was mentioned in a previous chapter of this story, I refuse to ret-con it. I promise, Renais's Sir Frederick is very different from Ylisse's Sir Frederick.

"My prince, please be mindful of the reins!" The voice called across the courtyard. "You are letting them dangle too much."

Baldur, Crown Prince of Renais, panicked and grabbed his pony's reins before they could fall from his reach. In his haste, his practice sword dropped from his hand and clattered to the ground.

His instructor sighed good-naturedly; "This is why I said you should knot your reins, my prince."

"I'm sorry, Commander," the boy said glumly, peering down at where his practice sword lay, wondering if he should dismount to pick it up. His pony wasn't as tall as the other horses, but was tall enough that Baldur didn't think he could reach down to pick something off the ground without falling off. He hated knotting his reins and had avoided doing so, and now in front of his parents and all the guests now watching his training session, he had screwed up and dropped his sword.

"Pick up your dropped weapon, Baldur," another voice said from the other end of the courtyard. "Do not make a habit of allowing yourself to be unarmed."

The prince grimaced and tried to lean over, but stopped before he toppled off his pony. He looked over at his instructor.

Commander Franz, the horsemaster of Castle Renais and designated riding instructor of the Knights of Renais, smiled and lifted his gaze; "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, your son has not yet learned enough balance to pick up a weapon from horseback. Please do not worry, though, as this is normal and will be rectified in due time. After all, I fell off my horse a hundred times before I had enough balance to do this."

King Ephraim made a rumbling noise in good nature and conceded the point. "Very well. I'll shut up."

"Please, King Ephraim," Franz's commanding officer, General Kyle, called over from atop his horse by the courtyard entrance, "you know that Franz didn't mean that." The general was on the lookout for an escort party from the southeast, coming in from Jehanna and Rausten.

"Prince Baldur," Franz said, lifting his voice slightly to counter the interruptions. "Please dismount your horse, pick up your sword, and mount up again. We'll try the exercise again until I'm satisfied at your progress. His Majesty wants you to be ahead of your peers, after all. And please knot your reins this time. You don't have to knot them tightly, but do knot them a little so that they won't drop out of reach when you let go of them."

Baldur did as asked, doing his best to ignore his audience, gathered near his parents. In particular, he could feel his cousins Jacob and Joseph watching him intently. Joseph was the Crown Prince of Frelia, son of the glorious King Innes. Jacob was a knight-in-training, after a fashion. He was younger than Baldur (by about half a year) and thus was far too young to even be a squire, but was training to become a knight, aspiring to be as great a knight as his father, the legendary Silver Knight, Seth, formerly the Knight General of Renais until his retirement about five years ago. Seth was now King Ephraim's trusted chancellor.

Baldur didn't like being the center of attention quite like this, but he knew that his father wanted him to continue his training despite all the celebrations going on all around them. This week marked the ten year anniversary of King Ephraim's coronation. Ten years of hard-won prosperity (though not peace, unfortunately) for the continent of Magvel was cause for celebration. The King of Frelia was already here with his wife and son, as well as a contingent of knights to escort him and his retinue. Jehanna and Rausten were due in today with representatives from their monarchs for this momentous occasion. Baldur knew that his parents were hoping that King Joshua of Jehanna would show up, though there was apparently reason to expect only his wife, Queen Natasha, to be here; Jehanna was not a peacefully prosperous country and the absense of both its king and queen could prove to be a terrible temptation for potential usurpers. There was little doubt that Queen L'Arachel of Rausten would be here, despite having only recently become a mother of twin daughters. Baldur's aunt (his father’s twin sister) was good friends with Queen L'Arachel and had assured them that she was certain that the illustrious Queen of Rausten wouldn't miss this celebration even if the world were ending.

As the prince of Renais settled himself into his pony's saddle and made a point of knotting his reins, he turned to his instructor.

"All right, my prince, let's resume. Bring your horse around me at a canter." Franz gestured in a sweeping circle. "Keep the circle as even as you can. I want to see how good your balance is on a curve. And you may only use one hand on the reins; you must be holding your sword in the other hand. No using the reins for balance."

Baldur ground his teeth in concentration and heeled his pony forward.

* * *

"Darling," Tana, the beloved Queen of Renais, said with a knowing smile to her husband, "you really should keep quiet and let Franz train him. He knows what he's doing."

"I know, I know," Ephraim said with an impatient wave of his hand, "I just want to see Baldur succeed. I was riding circles around the ring at his age!"

"You clearly don't remember what it was actually like when we were learning to ride," retorted his sister, Eirika. "Baldur is doing a lot better than you were, because he's actually listening to his teacher, which you weren't! Our instructor was flustered with trying to train both of us at the same time and you were a complete brat. You were 'riding circles' on a pony that was trying to throw you!"

Ephraim chuckled at the memory, a trifle uncomfortably; "Cut me some slack, Eirika! I was a kid."

"So is your son. At least Franz is infinitely more patient than our teacher was." She cast a mischievous sideways glance over at her husband, Chancellor Seth. The red-haired former Knight General, who had retired honorably from active service five years ago when even routine training to keep in fighting trim proved to be too painful for his arthritic hips, was seated on a bench nearby with their daughter, Eirene, helping her to read. The fiery-haired little girl was remarkably bookish and was beginning to show signs that she might someday be a magic user. Father Artur, the bishop in charge of the temple inside Castle Renais, had expressed a desire to teach Eirene how to use light magic and sacred staves once she had learned how to read enough to handle a magic tome. Although Eirene had daily reading lessons with the castle's library mistress, Lute, she was so eager to learn to read that Seth had taken to giving her extra tutoring when he wasn't busy.

"That's not fair, Eirika," Seth retorted mildly to what she'd said. "Shall I remind you that I had never trained anyone before? And my first pupils were the Crown Prince and Princess! Franz has trained all of our current squires already, so he has experience with this now. But you both learned how to ride just fine, so I think I did a decent enough job, considering how young I was and I had no experience teaching." He ruffled his daughter's hair and looked over at his wife and brother-in-law. "However, Eirika is definitely correct in that Prince Baldur is showing good progress considering what his father was like at his age."

"Argh!" Ephraim let out a groan. "Everyone's making fun of me!"

"You do invite it, Ephraim," King Innes said with a smirk. "You always have." His eyes were trained on his nephew. "The kid sits his horse like a natural, I must admit." The King of Frelia glanced briefly over at his wife, Lady Vanessa (due to an archaic but traditional rule in Frelia, common-born Vanessa was unable to use the title of Queen, so she was simply referred to as a Lady) for her verdict on their nephew's prowess in the saddle. "What do you think?"

Vanessa just shrugged. "I ride a pegasus, Innes. They are ridden very differently from horses. But yes, he has a good, confident posture." She put a gentle hand on her son's head. "You could learn a lot from watching him, Joseph."

The boy grumbled under his breath but didn't seem too upset. Innes and Vanessa had three children, but only their eldest was here today; their other son was recovering from a contagious childhood illness and thus was home to prevent infecting any other children, and their daughter was too young to travel comfortably by pegasus, which was the Frelian escort's form of transportation.

"Jacob," Seth raised his voice slightly to be heard over the chatter, addressing his son, who was standing nearby and watching the prince with something akin to envy, "there's no need to be so antsy. You'll get your turn with Commander Franz. It might not be until later today but you'll get your daily lesson too. Just calm down."

By now, Baldur was riding without the reins, having been instructed to drop the reins and grip his sword with both hands; he looked almost scared, but equally determined to not screw up again. 

Franz raised his arm; "All right. That's enough, Prince Baldur. Your pony is getting a bit tired. We'll pause for a little bit." He looked over at the cluster of onlookers with a smile. "Lord Jacob, if you are ready, I think we can--"

They were interruped by a peal of trumpets from the outer walls, and a flare of noise. General Kyle wheeled his horse around and shouted orders up to the top of the main gates. After a delay, the gates started to roll open, revealing a large escort behind it, petitioning to enter. Two distinctive banners could be seen to be flying near the head of the escort, and the blue-armored paladin at the front of the escort was unmistakable.

Jacob muttered under his breath and refrained from asking permission to go get on his horse. He knew better by now that when the drums and trumpets started up, everything was to stop until General Kyle gave the word to go ahead with whatever they were doing. He looked petulantly over at his parents, but waited silently, especially when his father gave him a look a mild disapproval at his impatience. The boy lowered his head in submission, and was rewarded with a touch to the shoulder as Seth recognized his son's acquiescence. Jacob idolized his father and Seth was careful to not discipline him too heavily without rewarding him for good behavior as well.

While everyone waited, including Franz, Kyle greeted the escort and began summarily relieving the tired escorting knights of their duties, sending them off to report in and then off to join the celebrations going on all around the castle. Then, Kyle and the paladin who had led the escort approached the king.

"Hail to King Ephraim," the blue-armored paladin said as he removed his helm and saluted. He was Sir Edgar, the Sapphire Knight, one of General Kyle's most trusted subordinates and a long-time knight. "Your Majesty, I have brought the entourages from Jehanna, Rausten and Caer Pelyn."

"Good work, Edgar," Ephraim said with a smile. "You've done well, bringing such a large retinue so far. Unless Kyle has further assignments for you, I'd like to reward you with some vacation time. You've done very well and deserve some time with your family."

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty," Edgar said with a grateful salute. The knight was a father of three children now and sometimes lamented not getting much time with his newest son. "Please allow me to thank you for your generosity."

"You are welcome. Go report in to the quartermaster. We will decide exactly how much vacation time later; for now, go report in and then go visit your family."

"As you command, my king!" Edgar saluted again.

As the knight rode off toward the stables to hand over his horse to the grooms, Ephraim turned to his royal guests as they dismounted their tired horses. They were surrounded by some Rausten Royal Knights and a few knights from the Court of Jehanna, but there were a half-dozen horses with riders on them that were clearly of a different class than mere soldiers.

"We're glad you came, King Joshua," Ephraim said with a smile as the red-maned King of Jehanna dismounted his horse. "We had heard that you weren't planning to come, and Eirika was sad about that."

Joshua laughed a trifle sardonically; "There was a reason why you heard that. I was planning to come all long, but I made it sound like I had no intentions of leaving, so that potential usurpers would have no time to plan. I also hired two very good bodyguards for my kids." 

"Ah, so you should be able to enjoy yourself, I hope!" Eirika said as she hugged the King of Jehanna and his beautiful wife both in greeting. 

"Mm. I intend to. The two bodyguards I hired for my kids didn't come cheap, I assure you. Sorry to inform you that the Desert Tiger and the Crimson Flash will not be attending to your festivities. The contract to hire the Desert Tiger even temporarily, after he bought his freedom years ago, emptied a number of coffers, I should add, and the Crimson Flash doesn't come cheap even when hired by herself; hence, I really can't afford to not enjoy myself!" His lazy grin was contagious.

Ephraim snorted and grinned; "Well, far be it from me to prevent you, but do try not to swindle my knights with your gambling!"

His wife, Queen Natasha (formerly a cleric from Grado, who won Joshua's affection during the War of the Stones) returned Eirika's hug, and gladly accepted a similar one from Tana; "We had to leave the children home, sadly, but at least my parents are more than happy to look after them while we're away. And with Gerik and Marisa to guard them, we're confident that they're safe."

"I'm glad your parents got used to Jehanna Desert," Eirika said sincerely. They had heard about how shortly before Joshua and Natasha's royal wedding, Natasha's parents -- a farmer and a former cleric -- had been relocated from an impoverished Grado village to the palace at Jehanna. "I don't know that I could handle living there after living in a region like this for so long. I'm surprised that you managed to adjust so well!"

"I'm not sure they're used to it, and I'm still a bit annoyed by all the sand, but they were thrilled about my marriage and they are more than delighted to help us with our children." Her expression became almost mournful for a moment. "I'm glad they came with me to Jehanna, as I've heard nothing but unpleasantness from Grado ever since the end of the War. I've heard that even Duessel has been hesitant to return to it when he leaves to travel around and offer his services. The last time we saw him, he wasn't eager to leave; he stayed for over two months, in fact. We were thrilled to have him, but I was worried that his reluctance to return to Grado was a sign that things were getting bad."

Eirika nodded in sympathy; "Yes, we heard as much as well. That uprising three years ago cost us the use of one of our most talented knights, after all. Thank all the gods that Forde survived, and he transitioned easily into court artist, but that injury was horrific."

Natasha looked a bit sad; "I only hope that Sir Cormag didn't get caught up in it all. I heard from Duessel that he showed up again in the infantry ranks after being absent for several years. Oh, hello there, sweetheart. Is this your daughter, Eirika?"

Eirika glanced down at the little girl beside her and smiled; "Yes. Natasha, this is my daughter, Eirene. Eirene, this is Queen Natasha of Jehanna. Say hello."

Eirene executed an awkward curtsy; "Pleased to meet you, Queen Natasha." She looked up at the Jehanna queen with shining cerulean-colored eyes. "Welcome to Castle Renais." She was clearly proud of her greeting, which she had been practicing. (Eirika noticed that even Joshua glanced over, regarding Eirene with respect and appreciation.)

Natasha gave her a graceful curtsy in response; "A pleasure to finally meet you, Eirene. I have heard much of you from your mother's letters. I understand you want to learn to use light magic?"

Eirene nodded emphatically. "Father Artur wants to teach me... when I can read."

Natasha knelt down before Eirene, to get down to her level, as the girl was small for her age. "That's wonderful. Father Artur taught me how to use light magic too, after I had mastered using sacred staves. You'll be in good hands with him."

Eirene shyly clutched at her book and looked up at her father. "Papa is teaching me to read."

Seth put a hand on his daughter's shoulder; "That reminds me. Eirene, my heart, why don't you go and take your book back to the library? We probably won't get any more time to work with it today, so take it back to Mistress Lute. We'll read some more tomorrow." He leaned down and dropped a kiss into her crimson hair. "Can you do that for me, my dear?"

"Okay." She curtsied again as she took her leave. Then she hurried off, her skirts fluttering in the wake of her movement.

"She's adorable," Natasha said admiringly as she stood back up. "She looks like you, General... I mean, Chancellor."

"Are you calling Chancellor Seth cute, my dear?" Joshua teased lazily. "Should I start getting jealous again?"

"Stop that!" She turned red. "Joshua, you delight in embarrassing me!" Her husband laughed and conceded the point.

By now, Eirika was dealing with the over-enthusiastic greeting of Queen L'Arachel of the Theocracy of Rausten. The self-styled Queen of Light was as self-centered as always, but irresistably charming too. She was flanked by Rennac, her bodyguard (who had finally grown accustomed to his role as her bodyguard, though he was perpetually sour about it) and when asked about the location of her retainer, the boisterous berserker Dozla, she stated that she had left him home to watch over and protect her husband and twin daughters, that with his declining health, traveling wasn't as fun for him, so he was perfectly happy making sure her beloved daughters were well cared for. Ephraim, meanwhile, was greeting the two sages from Caer Pelyn.

"Master Saleh, it is good to see you again. It's been a long time. And is that you, Ewan? My goodness, have you ever grown!"

Saleh bowed respectfully; "Your Majesty, we are delighted to be invited to your coronation anniversary celebration. I bring word from the Great Dragon, who wishes she could attend but cannot justify leaving Darkling Woods. Lady Myrrh sends her best regards, King Ephraim, and asks that someday you come visit her and to bring your heirs so that she may see for herself your children."

"I would love to," Ephraim said, a trifle wistfully, "but right now Frey is too young to travel that far and I still have duties here that I cannot yet delegate. We are not yet fully at peace."

"I'm sure Lady Myrrh understands that better than you realize, King Ephraim," Ewan said kindly. "She did say 'someday' after all. I'm sure she just doesn't want you growing old and dying off without coming to visit her. You should see her now! She had a growth spurt a few years ago! She's almost as tall as Elder Dara now!" Ewan himself, barely 24 years old, was very tall, had grown extremely quickly in a few years after the end of the War of the Stones. He towered over his teacher, Saleh, and nearly everyone else. Myrrh, the last of the Manakete tribe, was more than five hundred times as old as Ewan and probably still looked like she was ten years old or younger.

They were interrupted by a bit of a clamor nearby as a group of people arrived from various parts of the castle complex, greeting each other as they did so. The aging axe-swinging warrior Garcia had just arrived from Ide with his family -- namely his son, Ross, who had been an invaluable warrior for the royalty of Renais as well. Ross was a robust grown man now, and had a tiny toddler balanced on his hip right now, chatting animatedly with Colm, the former rogue who had been a valuable part of Castle Renais's spy network for a few years before resigning from active spying about four years ago when he married his long-time sweetheart and childhood friend Neimi. His wife, a local legend with the bow and arrow, now worked at the castle as an archery instructor while Colm maintained a post as a coordinator of the spy network. The two of them had twin children, a son and daughter.

Eirika greeted the group of commoners (who were anything but common, in reality, but they weren't nobility) and found herself chatting with Ross's lovely and charismatic wife Bess, who was the daughter of an innkeeper in Ide (the village that Ross and Garcia had lived in before it was attacked by bandits at the start of the War of the Stones). Bess had greeted Eirika with a spontaneous hug and then had given her a freshly-baked pastry. It turned out that Bess was well-known for her baking in Ide, and her favorite way of greeting someone -- anyone -- was to offer a pastry. Eirika hadn't been the least bit offended, though some of the courtiers who had witnessed it had found it scandalous.

Ross called out to Ewan when he saw the tall redheaded sage, and Ewan took his leave from his mentor to come over to him and chat. Eirika overheard him complimenting his friend's cute son and wishing the son a long future of glory. Ross's son, knowing that he was being talked about, grinned and burbled and showed signs that he wanted even more attention. In the midst of all this, Franz arrived, having hurriedly freshened up and suited up in a more formal uniform than he used when training Prince Baldur. In his arms was his toddler daughter, while at his side was his lovely wife, Amelia, a retired paladin who had served Renais' cavalry for a very brief time but had racked up a great deal of renown during the five years she served. She was originally from Grado, but had joined Renais during the War of the Stones because of her admiration for Grado's General Duessel, among other things. When the war was over, Ephraim had offered her a decent commission and she had joined the Knights of Renais. She had been adamant from the moment she joined that she would retire her commission when she married. Seth had managed to convince her to wait until Renais's cavalry was at full strength before she retired. She and Franz had been engaged for almost three years before they wed. Less than a year after their wedding, Amelia gave birth to their daughter, Annabelle.

Franz greeted Ross eagerly, as the two of them had maintained correspondence through the years. Likewise, Amelia had developed a friendship with Ross and Ewan during the War of the Stones, and had maintained some correspondence with Ewan (since Franz kept up correspondence with Ross) over the years. Ross and Ewan had attended the wedding for Franz and Amelia, though that was the last they'd seen of each other. Both Amelia and Franz were eager to reminisce with long-absent friends. The group all greeted each other and congratulated each other on various accomplishments. When little Annabelle was introduced to Ross's son Martin, the two tots seemed intrigued and confused by each other, and Ewan struck a sagacious pose and proclaimed that in twenty years' time, there would be a grand wedding here in Castle Renais, between a great axe-swinging hero named Martin and a famous paladin named Annabelle, and that it would be a glorious event, greater than even King Ephraim's wedding to Queen Tana. This got a round of laughter from everyone around him.

Eirika turned her attention to her family. Ephraim was engrossed in a coversation with a Rausten knight. Jacob was standing next to his father, addressing King Joshua. Seth looked very proud of his son, and King Joshua looked impressed at the boy's formality and poise. The King of Jehanna was jokingly inquiring about borrowing Jacob for a while, citing a need to "knock some sense into that stubborn son of mine" to which Seth respectfully argued that the "knocking of sense into a prince's head should come from his honorable father, not a foreign young lordling." 

Then she heard a throat clear behind her and turned around to come face to face with Saleh, whom she had not seen since they had parted ways at Caer Pelyn nearly eleven years ago now. Once, several years ago, she had received an invitation to attend an ascention ceremony, where Saleh was installed as the official leader of Caer Pelyn (his grandmother Dara was still the senior elder of the village but Saleh now handled the day-to-day decisions, apparently). She had wanted to attend, but because she had just given birth to her daughter Eirene, Seth put his foot down and refused to condone his wife traveling across the continent while still recovering from a difficult childbirth and leaving him with a newborn to handle (he was also still the Knight General at the time; he had retired about a year later). Ephraim had sided with his Knight General and had sent Kyle as the representative of Renais to the ceremony, along with an explanation for Eirika's absense. The whole situation had been very bitter for Eirika and she had taken it out on Seth, harshly. Their marriage had suffered for nearly six months. The end of the marital standoff had come when a heartbroken Seth had all but begged her to let him back into her life. That had been the point when she realized what she had really been doing to him, and to their two children. At that point, she had gone to Lute and Artur for help, at which point Lute had identified that Eirika suffered from post-partum depression, and treatment for the problem came swiftly and surely. Seth and Eirika had mended their differences and emerged from it closer and more devoted to each other, but it was still an ugly blemish in their past, and one she was intensely ashamed of. Even now, she wondered if Seth was likely to get jealous. As strong as their marriage was now, she knew that any mention of Caer Pelyn tended to get a bit of a reaction from him. It pained her, because she adored him and didn't want him to suspect her but at the same time, she had felt back then that he had tried to control her, which he had long said he would never do. 

"Milady, are you all right?" Saleh inquired, drawing her forward to the here-and-now. She blushed slightly and greeted him. 

"I'm sorry, Master Saleh, I was just overcome by how terribly long it's been since I've seen you and yet you look so much the same as you did all those years ago! How have you been? How is your grandmother? How is the whole of Caer Pelyn? Oh how I wish I could have visited when you invited me six years ago!" 

He bowed before her, a rare smile on his face; "Please be at ease, Lady Eirika. You and your family will forever be welcome at Caer Pelyn. Now, to answer your many questions: I have been well enough. Grandmother Dara is well but getting old and a bit frail. Thankfully, Ewan has been something like a godsend to me, enabling me to be able to take care of the village while someone cares for the Great Dragon. Caer Pelyn holds sway despite the warnings of war from the north." 

"War?" 

"There are symptoms of civil war in Carcino. That is why Ewan and I joined the entourage here rather than travel on our own -- because it is not safe to travel near Carcino without armored escorts." 

She felt terrible and saw immediately that her feelings were apparent, as he looked uncomfortable. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she grasped the nearest thought; "My daughter is showing signs that she will be a magic user. Our castle bishop is eager to teach her light magic and staves. Perhaps in a few years, when my son is a full squire and my daughter has a few spells in her arsenal, my family and I will come visit you in Caer Pelyn?" 

"We would be delighted to welcome you and your family to our humble village, milady," Saleh said. There was just the slightest hint of sadness in his voice. Then he looked up and his expression became slightly more distant. That alerted her to the approach of her husband, and she felt a momentary flash of annoyance, before she reminded herself that she had made Seth miserable for months on end because of a jealousy that she herself had fanned. 

To her (somewhat guilty) relief, Jacob was with Seth as well, and looked interested in talking to Saleh, which might be why Seth had come over. Jacob was assertive and outgoing and he seemed to be very interested in learning about Caer Pelyn. The other day, during lessons with Mistress Lute in the castle archives, Eirika had heard later from Lute that Jacob had grilled her for details about Caer Pelyn and Darkling Woods. The library mistress had directed the boy toward some books, though the books had been a bit too advanced for him at his current reading level but he seemed to be doing his best to research it. It wasn't clear where this fascination had come from, but it was definitely there, and no one was going to discourage the boy from expanding his education. 

As if summoned by indirect thought, Eirika noted that Lute had appeared in the courtyard, along with Eirene, and her own son Devon. A few moments later, Eirika spied Lute's husband, the castle bishop Father Artur, emerging from the castle as well. Artur was an instantly recognizable sight in large part due to his bright ginger hair, especially on a sunny day like today, when it reflected the sunlight in a manner that made it look like polished curls of new copper. Ephraim had joked that between Artur and Seth, the castle courtyard could reflect in an array of shades of red. (Seth had been annoyed by the comment but had, as was usual, kept his silence, only grumbling quietly to Eirika about it later when she pressed him. He was heartily sick and tired of people harping on his "Jehanna red" hair by now, especially now that he had begun to see gray hairs appearing in it; he didn't like reminders that he was getting old. In fact, Colm had been the first to point out that the former Knight General was starting to go gray, and had teased that "Someday your hair will be pink like my wife's!" That had earned him a very dirty look and a cold shoulder from the chancellor.)

As Artur descended the steps to the courtyard, he was greeted enthusiastically by a number of people around him, and his wife and son fell in with him. His bright and energetic personality had made him a much-loved figure in all Renais, because anyone who visited Castle Renais invariably spent some time in his temple and thus encountered him. He was soft-spoken and honest, compassionate and intuitive, and he was about as charismatic as anyone around. His smile was genuine and radiant, giving one the feeling of having been blessed with such light.

Eirika and Ephraim knew that they were lucky to have Artur here at Castle Renais, as he had wanted to stay at his home temple in Za'ha, but had been turned away when he requested permission to marry his childhood friend, Lute. Because Father Rydan, the bishop in charge of Castle Renais's temple under King Fado, had died at King Fado's side during the intial siege, once the war was over, Ephraim had been able to offer Artur the post in Castle Renais, as well as offering Lute the post of running the castle's archive library, also giving them full permission to marry. They had wed one week before Eirika had wed Seth, in fact, and they were some of the most loyal friends Eirika could recall ever having, as Artur had been supportive of her throughout everything she had suffered, and Lute had been the one to identify the princess's postpartum depression after Eirene was born, ultimately helping Eirika to patch up her marriage with Seth before irreparable damage had been done. Curiously, she had been so quick to diagnose the problem because she herself had recently given birth -- Devon was a few months younger than Eirene -- so she had recognized in the princess some of the same things she herself had nearly suffered. 

Artur greeted everyone in his usual manner as he crossed the courtyard, heading toward the new arrivals from Jehanna and Rausten. L'Arachel greeted him with a hug; he had spent some time in her court several years ago, studying the two Sacred Twin weapons of Rausten, and he had formed a good friendship with her. In fact, he had even formed a solid friendship with her eventual husband, Theodore. Joshua and Natasha also greeted him warmly, as Joshua had learned how to fight mages in battle by training with Artur, and Natasha had learned from Artur how to cast light magic (and in exchange, she had taught Artur how to use sacred staves) so they were both grateful for the young holy man's contributions. Then Artur proudly presented his son to the royalty of both countries, and graciously received their praise. Devon was nearly his father's spitting image in miniature, yet had his mother's mannerisms. Joshua indicated that he would like to see young Devon in his own court someday, to which Lute retorted that her son was too young for such travel for a great many years yet. Artur apologized for his wife's bluntness and shushed her by covering her mouth, but Joshua waved it off, reminding them that he wasn't offended.

Somewhere in the commotion, the man known as Obsidian, the retired General Duessel of Grado, arrived and was being greeted by everyone around him with great reverence, which humbled him. Retired from Grado's military, he traveled the continent to offer his military expertise. He was more than welcome in each country with a royal leader (Carcino was indifferent to him right now, since civil war was brewing) and even Caer Pelyn welcomed him eagerly. He divided his time amongst the countries by spending about a month in each before moving on to a neighbor. Presently he was finishing up a month in Renais after a month in Frelia, and would be departing with the Jehanna retinue next week to go spend a month in Jehanna, before moving on to Rausten, then looping back around.

By now, some of the other children had begun to gather as well. Baldur had changed out of training armor into more formal attire, and he was flanked by his little brother Frey, who was too young to learn weapons and was only barely beginning to learn to ride a pony. Eirene was milling near her father and brother, unsure of how to try and get her father's attention. Fortunately for her, Seth was remarkably empathetic toward his little girl and turned around just as she was starting to get upset, putting an arm around her and pulling her close. True to her shyness, Eirene clung to her father, partly hiding behind him, even as she peeked out at the radiant Queen of Rausten.

"Have you met young Lady Eirene?" Artur inquired of Queen L'Arachel. "For someone with such a distinguished knight's pedigree, she has all the makings of a glorious valkyrie. I daresay she might even rival you in combat, my good queen, should combat ever come before her, which of course we pray it never will. Her potential is astounding."

L'Arachel looked down at Eirene with a smile; "Well, well, come on out, little one! You're hiding behind the Chancellor, which is unbecoming of a mighty sorceress! Let me have a good look at you, sweetie!"

"With all due respect, milady, my daughter is a bit shy," Seth said gently, patting his daughter affectionately before scooping her up into his arms. "Your glory and radiance are blinding to her, I dare say." As if to emphasize this, shy Eirene buried her face in her father's shoulder.

"Come along," Ephraim said abruptly. "Let's all go inside to the reception hall. We have a celebration to begin, do we not?"

As everyone began to file into the castle, Eirika fell in behind her husband and children, and was about to catch up to them when she felt a hand on her arm.

"You are so lucky, Eirika!" It was L'Arachel, looking slightly sad for once. The glorious queen of the Theocracy of Rausten didn't let her facade down often, and only did so around those she trusted most, but when she did, it was usually significant, a sign of acute distress. "As much as I love Theo, I'm not sure he'll be a good father to our girls. How I envy you! Look at how your children adore their father!"

"Seth is a good father, yes," Eirika said gently. "We've been very lucky, very blessed. And we have had our share of troubles." The look on her friend's face made her heart ache a little. She put her arms around her friend and gave her an encouraging hug. "Cheer up, L'Arachel! Your daughters are newly born. You and Theodore have not yet had time to adjust to being parents yet. It's difficult and it takes time, but you'll get through it. Try to not be discouraged."

L'Arachel returned the hug, but her smile was still sad, devoid of her usual gusto; "Thank you, Eirika, but I am not blind. There is a very real difference between my circumstances and yours. You have lived -- are living -- a great romance. No one can compare to the love you and Chancellor Seth have shared."

Eirika did her best to not frown; "It has been anything but easy and pleasant, L'Arachel. The court nobles spent years needling me for marrying a commoner. It wasn't until Seth retired and became Ephraim's chancellor that they finally stopped being so openly hostile. Seth and I argue on a regular basis, too. It really isn't a storybook romance. It takes a lot of work. There's more to a marriage than the romance ballads say." She was aware of the over-simplified romance ballads out there about the brave princess and her loyal knight falling in love and marrying. It was nowhere near so simple, though. The court nobles had come far closer than they would ever realize to tearing Eirika and Seth apart with their hateful pettiness. Without Ephraim's staunch support, there was a very real chance that Eirika and Seth's "great romance" marriage might have fallen entirely apart due to court nobles' machinations.

"I'm sorry, Eirika," L'Arachel said as she slowly regained her composure, her smile brightening. "Please forgive me for that sorry display just now. I completely dumped my problems all over you, friend. I miss my little girls badly. I wanted to bring them along too, but the nurse said they were far too young to travel even with an entourage. I must be tired from the travel." She hugged Eirika, and murmured very softly for Eirika's ears alone; "Thank you, my friend. I feel better. It was worth it, coming this far, just to see you!" Then she flourished. "Come! Let's go celebrate the anniversary of this restoration! This is a joyous occasion!"

That was much more like the L'Arachel everyone knew and (mostly) loved, and Eirika smiled with relief. Then the Queen of Rausten proceeded toward Castle Renais's entrance with no further evidence of her distress. Eirika just followed along behind, amused at L'Arachel's antics and relieved that her friend was feeling better.

Seth was waiting for her by the castle entrance as she climbed the steps, with Eirene in his arms and Jacob nearby. As she drew close, she could hear that Seth was assuring his son that he would have time later today for his daily riding lesson with Commander Franz, that even this celebration would not interrupt Jacob's training regimen. Her heart swelled with love for her family. She was incredibly blessed and she knew it.

"Are you jealous of Baldur?" She inquired of her son, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"No, I just..." Jacob looked frustrated. "I was looking forward to my lesson, is all." Then he looked at his mother, and made a face; "No, I am not jealous of him, Mother. I'm not keen on having Uncle Ephraim critiquing my form like he was Baldur's, especially in front of our royal guests. But I was looking forward to my lesson all the same."

"A little patience, son," Seth said firmly as he set Eirene down. "I promise you, Franz has not forgotten about your lesson."

"Of course I haven't!" Franz said, emerging from the doorway. He looked down at Jacob with a broad smile; "Milord is so impatient! You remind me entirely too much of myself in fact! When I was your age, I pestered everyone, from my brother to his commanding officer, for riding lessons." He looked up at Seth for a moment. "I have obtained permission from His Majesty, so with your father's permission, we shall go take care of your lesson right now, Jacob. Then perhaps you can relax and enjoy this celebration like everyone else?"

Jacob turned bright red with embarrassment. "Yes sir. Sorry, sir." 

"I've no complaints, if King Ephraim doesn't mind," Seth replied to the unanswered question of his permission. "Go fetch your horse, Jacob."

Saluting awkwardly and stammering his thanks, Jacob then dashed off to collect his pony from the stablemaster before the pony was turned out for the day.

Seth raised an eyebrow at Franz; "I had almost forgotten how much of a pest you were when you were Jacob's age, demanding to be taught how to ride. I suppose this puts everything into perspective, doesn't it? Thank you, though, Franz, for being so patient with Jacob."

Franz laughed; "He and I have a great deal in common, you know. I had a mighty legacy to live up to as well, after all. There are some who still insist that my father was a greater knight than even you. That is a lot to live up to. I can understand what your son is feeling because I was the same way."

"Your father was twice the knight I ever was, Franz," Seth retorted mildly, "and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. I may be more famous than him, but Sir Frederick was a far greater knight than I ever could have been. But you're right. I suppose that if anyone can help Jacob come to terms with what he's aiming for, it's you." He glanced off in the direction Jacob had gone. "Do me a favor, if you can. Work him hard. Wear him out."

Franz saluted cheerfully, a mischievous glint in his eyes; "I had every intention of doing so, even before King Ephraim said the same. Your son is in good hands, sir. By your leave." Then, saluting Eirika respectfully as well, the commander turned smartly on a heel and descended the stairs and headed toward the training area to meet up with Jacob and begin the lesson.

Eirene was clinging to her father's leg, clearly reluctant to join in the celebratory group inside the castle. She was painfully shy around large groups, and sometimes anxiety made her incapable of handling royal court functions. Her brother was reasonably outgoing and adventurous, but Eirene was quiet, withdrawn and timid.

Eirika put an arm around her daugher, pulling her close; "I know you're nervous, sweetheart, but we need to attend the festivities."

"You'll be fine, my heart," Seth added, taking her by the hand. "Your Mama and Papa will be right here with you."

"I know," the little girl said softly, morosely, her grip on her father's hand tightening. Admirably (and true to her parentage) she was bracing herself for facing her fear.

Just before they stepped through the doorway into Castle Renais, to head into the assembly hall, Eirika shifted over to walk beside Seth and put an arm around him. He turned his attention to her.

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you, Seth," she said softly, looking into those beloved reddish hazel eyes. "I'm blessed to share my life with you, to share these wonderful children with you, and I love you more now than I ever have in our years together."

He responded with a sweet, loving kiss to her mouth; "I love you too, Eirika. The one who is truly blessed is me. In fact, your devotion humbles me." Then he chuckled. "But now is neither the time, nor the place, for such tenderness. Come along, my ladies, my hearts, my reasons for existing." He looked down at his daughter, then to his wife, and smiled broadly for just a moment. Seth was not big on smiling much, but when he did, it was significant. "Our guests are waiting for us. As is our illustrious king."

With that, the three of them proceeded down the festively-decorated corridor to the meeting hall, where they were greeted again by their celebrating friends and family. More than a decade after the world began to fracture around them, with fresh scars still healing, they were finally on the path of prosperity and lasting peace, and it was time to celebrate that in earnest. Tomorrow would be another day anyway, but for now they could all rejoice in each other's company. 

\---

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ephraim and Tana's sons: Baldur, Frey  
> Seth and Eirika's children: Jacob, Eirene  
> Joshua and Natasha's children: Daniel, Valeria  
> Franz and Amelia's daughter: Annabelle  
> Innes and Vanessa's children: Joseph, Edward, Sophia  
> Artur and Lute's son: Devon  
> Colm and Neimi's children: Conrad, Helene  
> Ross's son: Martin  
> L'Arachel's daughters: Josette, Constance


End file.
